Second defendant in Toni Knight murder case gets 92 years with 42 suspended

PETERSBURG – Calling him “the match and the gasoline” that ignited the 2022 killing of an innocent bystander at a city apartment complex, a Circuit Court judge sentenced a Hopewell man Friday afternoon to 50 years in prison with an additional 42 years hanging over him should he misbehave anymore.

Forty of the 50 years for Jesiah Flowers is for shooting inside an occupied building that led to someone’s death, which carried the same penalty as second-degree murder. The rest of that active time included mandatory three-year sentences for two weapons convictions, and four years out of 20 for attempted first-degree murder.

Sentences for the other five weapons-related convictions, which totaled 42 years, were suspended. The active prison time will be served consecutively. Flowers was also ordered to do probation and pay restitution.

Flowers and Devin Mitchell were convicted last June in the July 2, 2022, death of 19-year-old Toni “Stinka” Knight. Knight was shot and her 11-year-old cousin wounded when they walked into the middle of a shootout involving Flowers and Mitchell in the lobby of the ArtistSpace Lofts apartment complex on Perry Street.

Knight was shot once in the chest and died at the scene. Her cousin suffered a shrapnel wound to her head but survived. A third child with them was not injured.

Although the coroner’s report stated that the bullet that killed Knight came from Mitchell’s gun, Flowers was charged with murder because he was the reported instigator of the shootout.

Mitchell, who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and other charges, will be sentenced Dec. 5.

A third suspect, Keyshawn Hicks, was sentenced last September to 33 years with all but 10 suspended after agreeing to plead guilty to second-degree murder and one weapons charge.

Judge: Flowers 'tried to assassinate' Mitchell

The shootout started after Flowers and a group he was with passed Mitchell on the staircase in the complex’s lobby.

According to evidence from their trial, the two men had a history of dislike for one another that stemmed from their days at Hopewell High School. On the day of the shooting, Flowers and Hicks drew weapons on Mitchell as he was walking out and started shooting. Mitchell, who was standing in the doorway, returned fire, and that is when Knight was struck.

Mitchell, who was wounded in the shootout, was found in an alley near the complex. Flowers and Hicks fled the scene.

Before imposing the sentences, Circuit Court Judge Dennis Martin had stern words for Flowers, telling him that his actions changed a lot of lives. Instead of seeking another resolution, Flowers opted to “try and assassinate another human being,” Martin said.

“You were the match and the gasoline on that day,” the judge told Flowers.

Likening the shootout to “two gentlemen standing in the middle of a dust-filled street waiting for the other to draw,” Martin said Flowers’ conduct “takes out civilization way back” to times when lawlessness often ruled.

“A civilized society cannot exist if there is conduct like this today,” Martin said.

Referring to testimony from Flowers’ mother earlier in the day that she did not raise her son to be disrespectful, Martin said he watched Tonya Odum and realized then that she was choosing to not see the personality of the man sitting at the defense table.

“I could see her heart breaking,” Martin said. He also noted Diane Branzelle, Knight’s mother, weeping in the courtroom gallery.

“All the lives affected are not going to be solved by this sentence,” Martin said. “I wish it could, but it can’t.”

Martin tipped his hand about the decision prior to pronouncing sentence when he admonished defense counsel James Bullard during Bullard’s argument for a lighter sentence. As Bullard was summarizing his client’s case, he claimed that Flowers could not see Knight or the others walking up from his vantage point.

Martin sternly stopped him.

“I don’t want to hear one justification for what he did,” Martin told Bullard. Bullard said he was not trying to justify Flowers’ actions, only pointing out that Mitchell was the only person his client could see.

Different pictures

During the hearing, the mothers of the suspect and the victim, and the victim’s uncle took the witness stand.

Odum said her son expressed remorse for the death of Knight and the wounding of her cousin. The youngest of her five children, Odum called Flowers a “jovial and loving child” who was raised to respect other people. She also said she could see her son being rehabilitated “into someone who will be able to pay back his debt to society.”

When asked by Bullard who she saw sitting at the defense table, Odum replied, “I know him as Jesiah, the son I raised him to be. I know that he’s not a monster.”

Branzelle painted a different picture. She said not only was Flowers “a menace to society,” he and his family have not shown the first ounce of remorse.

Looking directly at Flowers, Branzelle asked him three times, “What were you thinking?”

“He’s a monster to me,” she said.

Her brother, Frank Branzelle, testified about the conditions of his daughters, who were with Knight on that day. Of the youngest who was wounded by the shrapnel, the father said the incident “messed her up” and has undergone both in-house and in-school therapy.

Of Knight, he called her “like my baby child.”

The defendant has his say

Flowers spoke to the judge before the sentence was pronounced.

Dressed in a prison jumpsuit and wearing shackles, Flowers read from a statement Bullard held for him. He acknowledged his role in the shooting and said at that time that he was “still trying to understand the purpose of my life” and asked Martin for some leniency so that he could be a good father to his young son.

“My fate is in your hands,” Flowers told the judge.

Addressing the child in his remarks said, Martin said the only view his son will have of him “is through the glass as you come in and sit” at the table in the prison visitors center.

“That’s the first view your son will have of his father,” Martin said.

After the sentence was imposed and Flowers was led away from the courtroom, Bullard advised the court that the case was likely to be appealed, but he would not be handling it. Martin then assigned an attorney from the Petersburg public defender’s office to handle any appeals.

Outside the courtroom, Bullard approached Diane Branzelle.

“I know you don’t want to hear from me, but I truly am sorry for your loss,” he told her. Branzelle responded softly, “Thank you.”

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Man sentenced to 50 years for 2022 shooting death in Petersburg