Rock Hill woman lost part of limbs. Now she’s losing her freedom for shooting, drugs
Ze’Kiya Arleshia Knox had real life hoop dreams. She once was a basketball player at Rock Hill High School.
There was talk of a college scholarship, and a bright future seemed to be unfolding. Then she suffered a life-threatening medical condition called sepsis and respectively lost parts of her right arm and both legs to amputation.
From there, her life took an even more tragic turn.
Despite having prostheses and physical limitations, Knox sold drugs and fatally shot Tyquan Price in 2019, police and prosecutors said.
Rock Hill woman with prosthetic limbs charged in execution-style murder, appears in court
She was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison.
Charges reduced from murder
Knox had been charged with murder and jailed without bail since December 2019 in connection with the shooting. She also had previous arrests on drug charges and was free on bail at the time of the shooting, records show.
Knox had spent 1,356 days in the York County jail, pending trial this week at the Moss Justice Center. The trial never happened.
Knox pleaded guilty in York County, S.C., criminal court late Monday to voluntary manslaughter and trafficking heroin.
A negotiated plea agreement was reached between prosecutors and Knox on both charges, 16th Circuit Solicitor’s office prosecutors Daniel Porter and John Anthony said.
Knox could have faced 30 years to life under South Carolina law if convicted of murder.
‘Execution-style’
At her 2020 bond hearing, police described the shooting as “execution-style.” They said Knox shot 24-year-old Price several times as he sat in the back of her car while she was driving.
The Dec. 2, 2019 shooting happened around 10 p.m. near Archer Drive and Blackmon Street on Rock Hill’s southern edge near U.S. 21, police said.
Rock Hill man shot dead; A woman is charged with pulling the trigger in his death
“After executing him, she ordered one of the backseat passengers to kick his body out of the car while she slowly rolled down the street,” said Rock Hill Police Department Det. Robert Smith in the 2020 court hearing. “We found him in the roadway laying on his back.”
Prosecutors said in 2020 that Knox, even with her prostheses, could drive and get around on her own. At that bond hearing, Knox could be seen walking into court from a holding cell. Officials had said Knox used her left hand to kill Price.
Knox turned herself in to police on Dec. 12, 2019.
Amputations, drugs and isolation
Knox had been a gifted basketball player and received a scholarship to play at Denmark Technical College before the sepsis, defense attorney Jack Swerling, of Columbia, said in court.
Sepsis is the body’s reaction to an extreme infection and is a life-threatening medical emergency, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
“She was a terrific basketball player,” Swerling said in court in 2020. “She wound up spending a number of months in the hospital. Then they amputated her right arm -- part of her right arm -- and both of her legs.”
Knox spent many months in the hospital after she became ill, Swerling said.
Swerling also said in 2020 after Knox was arrested that he believed she should be released on bail.
“Because of her physical condition and because of the prosthetics, she’s really in isolation,” Swerling said. “She can’t be with anybody else according to what the jail told her...because she has metal prosthetics. She’s only out one hour a day and with nobody else there.”
Swerling said it was cruel to have Knox isolated.
Near the end of that hearing, Knox’s mother spoke.
“Yes she did the drugs thing,” her mother said in 2020. “I will not deny that. But that’s the way I feel like she was crying out, trying to get out because of the things that she had with her by her legs being amputated and her right arm being amputated. I think that was the depression state of her.”
Sonya Knox continued during the 2020 hearing.
“I look at my child and want to help as much as I can, but I don’t know how to,” she said. “I’ve been crying out to the courts. I’ve been crying out to everybody, wanting help for her.”
A judge denied bail and revoked bail from previous drug arrests.
How, why the plea deal was reached
Knox pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in what is called an Alford plea, Anthony and Porter said.
In an Alford plea, a defendant does not have to admit guilt, but accepts that if the case went to trial she would likely be found guilty, according to lawyers in the case. For sentencing, an Alford plea is treated the same as a guilty plea, South Carolina law shows.
Anthony said the plea agreement was appropriate because of the risk of a “not guilty” verdict if the case went to trial. Prosecutors said they took into account, when making the plea deal, the witnesses potential testimony and those witnesses relationships to Knox, Anthony said.
Prosecutors also took into account the physical condition of Knox, Anthony said.
“She pleaded guilty to the two most serious cases against her,” Anthony said after Monday’s court hearing.
Porter said Knox admitted to the drug charge by pleading guilty to heroin trafficking.
Knox was represented by defense lawyers Leland Greeley, Swerling, and Fletcher Smith.
Swerling said after the hearing that the 15-year sentence was an equitable resolution. Swerling said the plea agreement allows the cases to finish without trials.
“This girl went through an incredible tragedy,” Swerling said in reference to the sepsis.
The plea deal and 15-year sentence was negotiated between prosecutors and Knox’s lawyers and accepted by Judge Eugene Griffith. Greeley confirmed the plea agreement and sentence but declined further comment.
What happens now?
Knox will receive credit for the 1,356 days served toward the 15-year sentence, lawyers in the case said.
Porter commended the York County Sheriff’s Office jail staff for their care of Knox during the three-plus years she has been jailed.
All new inmates go through initial evaluations when they enter the S.C Department of Corrections, said Christi Shain, spokesperson for the prison department. A host of tests are done including medical evaluations to determine which female institution best fits the inmate’s needs, Shain said.
Knox must serve 85 percent of the 15-year sentence, minus the 1,356 days of credit, before she can be released from prison, Porter and Anthony said.
That means Knox will serve about nine more years in prison.
