'He Has My Heart': Blake Mohs Memorial Fund Raises Over $30K

PLEASANTON, CA — Tributes continue to pour in for Blake Mohs, a 26-year-old loss prevention employee who was shot to death last week while trying to stop a shoplifter at a Pleasanton Home Depot. Mohs is remembered as a community volunteer who was a “big kid at heart.”

“Thank you for the love, adventure, magic and overall just good times you shared with all of us,” wrote two people who knew Mohs at Camp Royaneh, a Scout camp where Mohs the fiancée he planned to marry this August. “Camp will never be the same without you there, but we'll carry on and do the best we can because we know that's just what you would want us to do.”

“Blake touched so many people's lives in his time here and was so very loved and will be forever remembered and missed, til we meet again,” wrote his aunt, Stacy Trujillo, on a GoFundMe page for the Blake Mohs Memorial Fund. As of Monday afternoon, the page has raised over $30,000 from 394 donors, well past its original $20,000 goal.

Mohs died last Tuesday at the Home Depot on 6000 Johnson Drive. According to the sworn descriptions from the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, Mohs tried to intervene when a woman walked out of the store with a Dewalt box she didn’t pay for. A struggle ensued in the parking lot, and a suspect, since identified as 32-year-old Benicia Knapps, shot him. Emergency crews arrived and took him to Eden Hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries Tuesday evening.

Two suspects, Benicia Knapps and David Guillory, have been detained and charged with a slew of felonies. Knapps has been charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery, unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and child endangerment. Authorities say she held a 21-month-old in her arms during a police chase, in a car that traveled 90 mph with a faulty door, at times going the wrong way down a one-way street.

Both Knapps and Guillory, the driver of that car, are being held at Santa Rita Jail. On Friday, Knapps refused to attend her arraignment hearing, according to the Alameda County District Attorney. Her bail was initially set at $100,000 when she entered Santa Rita Jail from the hospital early Friday morning, but she is now being held with no bail. Another hearing is scheduled for Friday, April 28 at 9 a.m.

Knapps reportedly tried to strangle herself with a seatbelt just following the police chase, according to an ABC7 report. Deputies reportedly untangled the seatbelt and cleared her airways, bringing her back to life.

David Guillory, who is being charged with felony reckless evasion, child endangerment, evading an officer by driving opposite to traffic, accessory to robbery, and resisting arrest, is being held at $325,000 bail as of Friday. He is also due to enter a plea April 28.

Mohs was a Boy Scout and Eagle Scout who hoped to become a police officer, friends and family have said. He is also remembered for loving spending time with those he loved.

“He has my heart,” his mother Lorie told ABC-7 in a teary interview. “My firstborn, and there’s a hole without him here….he’s the heart of everyone.”

He enjoyed all things Disney, baking cookies with his family, and volunteering for the Boy Scouts and Eagle Scouts. He was also a counselor at Camp Royaneh, a church youth leader, and a volunteer cadet with the Newark Police Department.

"I am devastated by the loss of Blake Mohs in yesterday’s senseless shooting," Pleasanton Mayor Karla Brown said in a statement. "Through his service to Tri-Valley organizations, Blake was a model for others. To have a life cut short is heartbreaking and infuriating. I’m joined by the City Council in offering our deepest condolences to Blake’s family, friends, loved ones, and to everyone impacted by this tragedy."

“Just because he’s not here right now, doesn’t mean that all those lives, all the people that he touched aren’t gonna pass that forward,” his mother told ABC-7. “Blake had a short life. Only 26 years. But he lived it.”

Patch has reached out to his family, the Boy Scouts and Camp Royaneh to learn when funerals and memorials to honor are being planned.