THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 8, 1994 TAG: 9411080359
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
In February, James Herbert Knight gave his son a drunken lesson on how to aim and fire a $50 shotgun.
Hours later, James Herbert Knight Jr. used this newfound skill to carry out his father's darkest wish, firing two blasts into the bedroom window of a former lover.
On Monday, after pleading guilty to first-degree murder, a remorseful Knight Jr. was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in jail for carrying out that deadly request.
The shooting occurred about 3 a.m. Feb. 12 when Knight Jr. stood behind a truck and fired two blasts into the bedroom window of Marvis Milteer, a 54-year-old grandmother to 13 children.
Milteer was hit twice in the chest as she slept in her Duke Street home.
She died shortly after ambulances arrived, becoming Suffolk's first murder victim of 1994.
A piece of buckshot severed the left eyelid and partially blinded Milteer's 8-year-old grandson, Antonio Holland, as he slept at her feet. The child may lose complete use of his eye over time, prosecutors said.
This strange tale of bad blood and fatherly control ended Monday when Knight Jr., 23, of the 300 block of Great Fork Road in the city's Whaleyville section, was sentenced to life plus 53 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated malicious wounding and weapons charges.
Knight Jr. entered an Alford plea in the case, which means he did not technically plead guilty but agreed that the evidence against him was enough to win a conviction.
``He had a very tall mountain to climb to get around that evidence,'' said Timothy E. Miller, Knight Jr.'s attorney.
The father, James H. Knight, 50, was found guilty in September of first-degree murder, aggravated malicious wounding, shooting into an occupied dwelling and weapons charges.
Although he did not pull the trigger, he was sentenced in October to serve 15 years more than his son.
Under questioning by police, Knight Jr. said his father was eager to know the result of their pre-dawn attack soon after picking him up from the shooting.
``He asked me if I got her, and I said I didn't know,'' Knight Jr. told police. ``He said: `We have to look out for each other. Now I'll have to look out for you.' ''
Despite the promise, the two were arrested by Suffolk police the next day.
Knight Jr. told police the gun went off accidentally. He intended to fire into the air, he said, not at the home. Gun experts who examined the weapon disputed that claim.
When police asked Knight Jr. if he had ever shot anyone before, the eighth-grade dropout said no.
``Not even a dog,'' he added.
``I think they were both equally responsible,'' Suffolk Commonwealth's Attorney C. Phillips Ferguson said. ``Basically, the son served as a hit man for his father because the father said he couldn't bring himself to kill her. answer.''
Because of the nature of the crime and the injuries involved, Ferguson said he does not believe father or son will be granted parole when they become eligible in 12 to 15 years.
Relatives and friends of Milteer, who owned her own catering business, sat silently in court as Judge Westbrook J. Parker read the sentence.
They declined to comment after the sentencing.
Knight Jr., wearing a pale dress shirt and purple pants, both shook and nodded his head as Ferguson recounted the case.
Ferguson said James Herbert Knight had had a three- to four-year relationship with Milteer. But last December, Milteer kicked Knight out of her home after suspecting him of using crack cocaine, Ferguson said.
Despite her pleas to be left alone, Knight continued to try winning Milteer back. Ferguson said Knight later threatened to kill her.
Both son and father were seen driving by the Milteer home the night of the killing.
Knight Jr. told police that his father mistakenly believed Milteer was trying to kill him. It was then that father and son conspired to kill her first.
Ferguson confirmed that Milteer had been involved in a prior shooting incident in which a man was killed.
But Ferguson said the killing was ruled ``an absolute case of self-defense'' and that Milteer was never prosecuted.
``She was a true victim in this case,'' he added. ``In no way did she contribute to her death at all.''
Knight Jr. said little during his sentencing. Miller, his attorney, said that ``Mr. Knight would state that heavy drinking . . . coupled with being with his father'' led to the shooting.
``He knows that is not an excuse, and he would like to apologize to the family for the pain he has caused.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
James Herbert Knight
James Herbert Knight Jr.
KEYWORDS: MURDER CONVICTION SHOOTING SENTENCE by CNB