Rock Hill woman with prosthetic limbs charged in execution-style murder, appears in court
A disabled Rock Hill woman accused of what prosecutors say was an execution-style murder will remain in jail after a judge denied her bond Thursday.
Zekiya Arleshia Knox, 24, has two prosthetic legs and is missing her right arm, according to court testimony. But despite her condition, prosecutors said Knox shot Tyquan Price, 24, several times in the back of her car while she was driving.
The shooting happened around 10 p.m. near Archer Drive and Blackmon Street on the city’s southern edge near U.S. 21 on Dec. 2, police said. Knox turned herself in on Dec. 12 and has been in the York County jail since her arrest.
“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. “We found him in the roadway laying on his back.”
A second male victim was shot at but not injured, police said.
In addition to murder, Knox is charged with attempted murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
Smith said in court that Knox told a couple friends she believed Price had burglarized her home and wanted to confront him.
Smith said Knox’s car and the gun have not been located.
Prosecutor Willy Thompson said Knox was out on bond for previous charges when the murder occurred.
“She has shown she cannot be trusted to be out on bond,” Thompson said. “She cannot be trusted to live with her family as she was told to. She cannot be trusted to be without firearms as she was told to. She cannot be trusted not to go back on the drug trade.”
Judge Dan Hall also revoked Knox’s previous bonds for drug arrests in 2019.
Knox’s lawyer Jack Swerling of Columbia said, in high school, Knox was a gifted basketball player and received a scholarship to play basketball at Denmark Technical College until she got sick and suffered from sepsis. Knox spent many months in the hospital and had her legs amputated below the knee and her right arm amputated, Swerling said.
“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 is cruel to have Knox isolated because of her condition.
Near the end of the hearing, Knox’s mother spoke.
Sonya Knox stood beside her daughter who was sitting at a table between her lawyers. Sonya Knox started crying.
“Yes she did the drugs thing,” her mother said. “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’s cries grew louder.
“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.”
Her mother sat back down in the benches. Knox took the edge of her orange shirt and wiped her tears.
No trial date has been set for the murder charge.
This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 11:39 AM.
