September 14th, 2019

By Bill Jodry

December 4,2023. This is an update as to the many things we have learned in the past four years of my wife and I investigating this case. Some of what I HAVE TO SAY MAY BE REPEATED IN THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS BUT PLEASE BEAR WITH ME.

We now know many of the details of what transpired between Knight and Tommy prior to, and on the night of his death. Knight met Thomas at Tommy’s cactus stand on our house sometime in or prior to August of 2019.Tommy often chatted to many of his cactus and succulent customers of which Knight was one. They also talked Art and Knight told Thomas he had connections to the art world and he could help Tommy get published and help him market his art. That was his foot in the door. After the day Knight bought succulents from Tommy, Knight proceeded to text Tommy repeatedly over the next few weeks. In Knight’s text messages he starts asking Thomas personal questions about his work, his friends and who he lives with. Remember, this guy is 57 and Tommy is 21. He texts pictures of famous artists of the type Tommy likes and claims he owns thse3se pieces of art. If you look closely you can see they are photos taken from a magazine. he focuses on some of the issues Tommy was dealing with such as the neighbors complaining about Tommy selling cactus from our property. Tommy views this as an opportunity to expand his sales to flea markets but Knight focuses on the negatives and how Knight can help him out. He first addresses Tommy as Thomas, then TJ then T-bone which is not a nice nickname-google it. The point being is that in these e-mails Knight is getting too familiar with a young person he barely knows, asks way too many personal questions, and projects himself as Tommy’s Savior. He is doing the predator- grooming thing. By the end of over two weeks of texting, Tommy finally agrees to tentatively meet Knight to look at the Architectural Graveyard at Cal Poly to look at art ant talk marketing. He ends the conversation by sayin they will swing by his house on the way to Cal Poly. He lives in the garage behind his mothers house where he has lived much of his life. Some time later in our investigation, one of Knight former victims told us he was molested by Knight there. Another told us that Knight abducted him when he was eight years old. Knight brother contacted us several month later and told us that David A. Knight has always had an affinity for young boys. Another victim told us that Knight befriended him when he was a teenager, invited him to go camping at Montana d’Oro , gave him excessive amounts of alcohol and tried to molest him but this victim fought him off. Later, several of Knights former friends contacted us and told us Knight had a felony child molestation conviction that he was later able to get expunged with the help of a lawyer in SLO named Jeffrey Stein. Stein also helped Knight get off the Sex Offender Registry. His ex friends described Knight as a manipulative, narcissistic Liar. The thirteen year old victim of Knights was molested for two years. Knight often provided alcohol including one called Everclear. Knight got two months in County jail in that Plea Bargain.

I offer the following narrative explaining what happened on Tommy’s last day on earth in the hopes that it will jog the memory of someone who may have seen him that day. I can now fill in some of the blanks.

The information in this narrative is based on the following sources of information: 

• My own personal observations

• The official police reports regarding the incident

• The official “Coroner’s Report” regarding the incident

On September 14, 2019, I was at home in Atascadero working in my son Tommy’s “Cactus Garden”. Tommy sold to the public the cactus he grew at a little curbside display to supplement his income. 

At approximately 2:00 pm, a middle-aged man pulled up in an automobile near our driveway and proceeded to make a phone call. Thinking he was a potential customer for Thomas, I walked toward his car and asked if I could help him with anything. While still in his car, the driver said to me, “I’m looking for Thomas.” (Although he did not then introduce himself to me, I later learned that his name was David Allen Knight.) I politely replied, “He doesn’t always answer his phone. I will get him for you.”

I went to Tommy’s room and told him. Tommy then reminded me that Knight was the man he’d told me about earlier that week saying, “He’s a photographer and is going to help me get published with my art, and we are going to look at art.” 

I looked at my son — both as his father and as a registered nurse. Tommy had a brace on his right arm from a recent elbow surgery stemming from a skateboard accident. He was still healing and had only recently been told that he could start lifting up to ten pounds with his recovering arm. Thomas looked very bright and happy. Things were starting to fall into place for him. His elbow injury had kept him out of work for more than a year, and the cactus sales provided him with a little spending money and people to talk to. He was unable to drive a car or ride a bike while he was recovering from surgery. 

Tommy and I walked back to the Cactus Garden and Knight then got out of his car. He asked if I was Thomas's father and I replied, “Yes." He then introduced himself after which Tommy and Knight got in Knight's car and left. 

Of course, I did not know that this would be the last time I would ever see my son alive. 

To understand what happened after Tommy left with Knight, I must turn to the narrative distilled from the police and coroner's reports. 

Tommy told me his plan was to “go look at art.” Knight drove them to Cal Poly but they discovered that they had arrived during Cal Poly “WOW” (“Week of Welcome” for new incoming students) and the campus was packed. Parents were helping their kids move into their dorms and the traffic was in a gridlock on campus. Because of the crowds, they left and Knight took Thomas to grab lunch and visit Montaña de Oro State Park, a place we now know that Knight has molested Kinds in the past. On a subsequent interview with the police, Knight told them that Thomas told him he had a Drug problem and was going into a drug rehab program the following week. This was in fact a lie that Knight told to cover up his taking Tommy to a Bar when in fact Tommy had asked us to get him into an alcohol Rehab program the following week After a few hours there, they made their way to San Luis Obispo. 

At about 7:00 pm, Tommy sent a friend of his a text message saying, "I will be home soon, and we are finally going to look at art." His friend's responsive text message stated that he was going camping with his girlfriend and that he would see him in a couple of days. 

While in San Luis Obispo, Thomas and Knight went to Kreuzberg Coffee on Higuera. While there, Tommy saw that there was a comedy show in progress, but they did not attend the show because Knight did not want to pay the cover charge to watch. So, they left and Knight took Tommy to the Frog & Peach Bar on Higuera Street — roughly a block away from Kreuzberg Coffee — to have some drinks. According to employees, Tommy and Knight arrived at the Frog & Peach at approximately 7:30 pm.

At 8:05 pm, Knight texted the words “Fuck you" to Thomas's phone. Knight later explained that he sent the message to verify that Tommy was receiving his text messages. (Why Knight chose to say “Fuck you" in the text message instead of something like, “Testing...1, 2, 3," was not explained.) According to Knight, Tommy didn't look at his phone and did not otherwise acknowledge the text message. 

Knight opened a tab for him and Tommy at the Frog & Peach, telling the Bartenders to be generous with the drinks. He said, and I quote, “give him as much as he wants, he is a very thirsty boy”. In the bar video we can see Knight constantly toasting Tommy, encouraging him to drink. At about 8:45 pm, the Bartenders noticed that Thomas was slurring his words, so the drinks were cut off.   The bill was well over a hundred dollars, and Knight was observed not drinking his own drinks. Knight was observed on the Video to be getting more handsy on Thomas, and was observed to pull Thomas by the bill of his cap, toward Knights crotch. Thomas was quite upset by this behavior, and left ahead of Knight and walked in the opposite direction of Knights car. In the Bar video we see Knight switching drinks with Tommy when his head was turned. He had bought Tommy drinks with gin, rum, whiskey and the last being Tequila which looked looked a double shot.

Thomas was trying to get away from knight and tried to go into the Ross store but Knight would not let him. He ran across the street and fell and hit his head. Thomas was experiencing an alcohol overdose, and was observed to fall in between two cars parked on Higuera Street. He became unconscious, and a young woman who had followed them from outside the bar, called 911. Knight made no attempt to call 911, or to get Thomas the help he needed . Unfortunately, the 911 operator, asked questions like what is he wearing, and is he a transient, and never sent an ambulance. Instead, the 911 operator sent a patrol car. By the time the patrol car got there from Foothill and Santa Rosa ,Knight had shaken Tommy awake and walked him to the sidewalk. The patrol car slowed, down, looked around , and drove off. Tommy was beyond intoxication, possibly drugged when that drink was switched, hit his head and got knocked out and now has a head injury and the 911 operator chose not to send and ambulance. Tommy was in dire need of medical help and was trying to get away from Knight. This was a missed opportunity to save his life.

Thomas did regain concsiousness, and was seen freaking out everytime David Knight touched him. Knight appeared to be helping, but no one saw their interactions in the bar, from which Thomas was running away from.

Thomas made another attempt to get away from Knight, Knight following him from a distance. Knight found him, put Thomas’s phone in his own back pocket, and proceeded to follow Thomas. Once again, Thomas fell, and a young observer heard Thomas say, “Help me, someone is after me”. Thomas then proceeded in the direction of the Marsh Street Parking Structure. Tommy had tracking on his phone and Knight has his phone. We see the phone go to the parking structure but we can’t get a signal in the parking structure due to the layers of concrete. Right after Tommy falls, we see the phone quickly go back passed the movie theaters toward Higuera. It travels down Higuera and turns down Chorro to where Tommy lies dying on the sidewalk.

We have heard from witnesses gained through our Subpoenas, and people who have responded to our requests for information many things which occurred over the next critical half hour, after 9 pm. We know that there are still people who saw something, or heard something, and may not know that we are still seeking their information. We have now heard from some of these people who have filled in some of the blanks that we have been sharing.

At around 9:15 pm someone called to say that someone had fallen. 911 cut the call short, to call for an Ambulance. While the officer was attending to Tommy, an "unknown male" — later identified as Knight — approached him and asked what had happened. The officer asked Knight to stop; Knight told the officer, “I know him, that is Tommy, but I don't want to be on record that I know him." Knight told the officer Tommy's name and the name of the city he lived in. But Knight refused to identify himself to the officer or provide any further information, even though he had Thomas’s cell phone in his pocket. When the ambulance arrives Knight walks across the street toward Higuera. You can see him patting both his back pockets where you can see him on the Police cam checking to see if he had his own as well as Tommy’s phone. He walks halfway down the street and texts Tommy, “ Thomas, where are you?” This is right after he identified Tommy to the police. He also tries to create a story that Tommy got hit by a car to the police even after the police clearly told him Tommy fell from the parking structure. We also see Knight telling people at the scene the same story. we get this information from the police body and car Cam and from Tommy’s google timeline that tracked his phone.

Shortly after that, Tommy was transported by ambulance to Sierra Vista Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 9:49 pm. In the meantime Knight parked on Pacific St. for awhile and then drove to Sierra vista parking lot. I had been trying repeatedly to call Tommy and at that point Knight turned off Tommy’s phone.

While the forgoing events were transpiring, my wife and I were at a Saturday night “Concert in the Park" near our home in Atascadero. When we arrived home at about 10:00 pm, Thomas was not home and I became alarmed. I called my son's phone repeatedly but received no answer. 

At about 10:20 pm, there was a knock on our front door. It was Knight, and he immediately asked me if I remembered him. I said, “Yes, but where is Tommy? I've been trying to call him." Knight said, "I have his cell phone," and he handed it to me. I asked him why he had Tommy's cell phone and Knight replied, "I found it on the ground. He must have dropped it." I then invited him into the house. Knight told my wife and I a little of what happened that evening with Tommy. He told us he lost Tommy somewhere downtown and then he heard police sirens. Knight told us that he went over to the scene near the parking garage. He told us that he saw someone on the ground that looked like Thomas but the police refused to give him any information when he approached them. 

Knight advised us to call the hospital, so I immediately called the Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center, where I work as a Registered Nurse. I was put on hold, so I hung up and called the Nursing Supervisor's personal number. 

Meanwhile, my wife was attempting to ask Knight some questions in our living room while I was in the next room making the phone calls. Knight answered a few questions but then rudely told my wife that he was trying to hear my conversation with the hospital, implying that she should remain quiet. 

I eventually contacted the Nursing Supervisor, who informed me that Tommy had died and that the police were also at the hospital and that we should come down. 

My wife and I were crying and screaming after we received the news. While we were crying, we saw Knight rocking back and forth on the couch saying, “How could Thomas do this to me?” I told Knight that he should leave, and I suggested to Knight that he come back the next day and tell us more of what had happened to Tommy. (Knight did not return or even call us ever again.) 

My wife then called her brother to take us to the hospital. Her brother, who lives very close, arrived within three minutes. In the meantime, Knight was still in our living room. My brother-in-law said to Knight, “What's going on here?" Knight responded coldly, "He's dead.” When he repeated the question, Knight repeated, “He's dead!” in an even sharper tone. Months later we ran into Knight on the street where he lives. I was curious as to where he lived since he texted Tommy that they may need to stop by his house. This is after his brother Byron Knight had spoken with us. I asked him why he bought our son so many drinks. He looked down at me and answered, “He was 21, he could do what he wants.” He then told us he was going to call the police if we didn’t leave.

I then told Knight to leave. My brother-in-law told me that Knight ran to his car. 

En route to the hospital, we were in shock and disbelief. “It must be a mistake," we said to each other. Upon our arrival at the hospital, we were escorted to the room where our son was and we identified the body lying on the bed as him. 

After a few minutes, we met with the police. They asked us how we knew that Thomas was in the hospital. We explained the story of meeting with Knight. The officers present told us that Knight had identified Thomas but then "ran off.”