Colleagues remember Dan Knight following death
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) -
Lawyers and others reflected on their times with former Boone County prosecutor Dan Knight following his death on Saturday.
Columbia police said officers found Knight dead at his south Columbia home on Memorial Court Saturday morning. Chief Geoff Jones said officers were dispatched to a possible gunshot death around 9:30 a.m. when they found Knight. Jones did not give any suspected cause or manner of death, but said he does not expect foul play in Knight's death.
Knight served as Boone County prosecutor since Jan. 2007. He announced this year that he did not plan to run again.
Judge Tracy Gonzalez worked alongside Knight for more than a decade. The two first worked as assistant prosecutors in Boone County. Gonzalez left the office in 2002, and returned in 2010 to be Knight's top assistant. Through tears over the phone on Saturday, Goznalez remembered Knight beyond his role as the county's top lawyer.
"Dan had a huge, huge heart," Gonzalez said. "If you were in his group, if you were part of his tribe, there is nothing that man would not have done for you."
The Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys called Knight a "passionate advocate an public servant we will all miss." Knight served on the board of the organization, and once worked as president of it.
Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker called Knight a man "fully committed to his work."
Knight recently prosecuted the murder case against Joseph Elledge, a two-week trial involving the death of Mengqi Ji in 2019. Knight also tried the sexual assault case of Joanthony Johnson in 2017, which ended in a century-long sentence for the man convicted of rape.
Former Cole County prosecutor Bill Tackett gave Knight credit for his ability to command jury trials. Tackett said defense attorneys would have trouble outworking Knight to prepare for trials, which made Knight an effective prosecutor for Boone County.
"I've never seen anybody work harder in preparation of a jury trial than Dan Knight," Tackett said. "He spent 24-7 when he locked into a jury trial. It's probably something we won't see again in terms of preparation."
Gov. Mike Parson can pick a replacement for Knight until the end of the year. Roger Johnson, a former assistant to Knight, is the only person on the ballot this year to take over the job. State law does give the circuit court the ability to appoint an interim prosecutor in the meantime. The current first assistant in the prosecutor's office is Nicholas Komoroski.
Elected prosecutors answer to several different groups, like county officials, law enforcement, victims and the media, Tackett said. The combination of those needs makes the job of a prosecutor difficult.
"It's a lot of pressure," Tackett said. "Any [prosecutor] will tell you that in the state of Missouri. But he was particularly good at the jury trials, and that's where you have to be good."
