Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Joshua Riak was sentenced to consecutive prison terms for role in Deliford Knight's death.
- Knight's family expressed their grief at the sentencing.
- Knight was killed in broad daylight outside the Salt Palace Convention Center in 2022.
SALT LAKE CITY — The mother and fiancee of a man who was shot and killed outside a sneaker convention at Salt Lake City's Salt Palace Convention Center said Wednesday that what happened to him wasn't right — he had his hands up and was begging for mercy.
Loretta Knight, Deliford Knight's mother, said none of the three men charged with killing him deserve to be on the streets. She said if Joshua Riak hadn't been involved that day, her son may still be alive.
"I just miss my son, I miss him and I can't bring him back, I can't talk to him. I have to go to a graveyard, look at a stone," she said, asking for justice.
Third District Judge Heather Brereton sentenced Riak, 24, to a term of five years to life for aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, and a term of one to 15 years in prison for manslaughter, a second-degree felony. She ordered the sentences to run consecutive to each other and consecutive to a yearlong jail sentence for assault by a prisoner, a class A misdemeanor.
At the time of the killing, Riak had been on probation after being convicted of theft and use of a firearm as a restricted person. Brereton ordered him to serve two concurrent terms of zero to five years in prison for those crimes, but ordered those to be served consecutive to the charges related to the killing.
'His life was worth more'
Shortly after 3:15 p.m. on a Saturday in the middle of West Temple and 150 South, Deliford Knight, 41, of Florida, was shot and killed shortly after leaving a sneaker convention.
Police said Knight engaged in fraudulent betting matches at other conventions, and the three men charged with causing his death lost money to him and initiated a fight. Knight had been kicked out of the convention center earlier that day but remained in the foyer rather than leaving the building.
Brereton said Knight did not deserve what happened to him and was shot while running away, with several people violently attacking him. She said video of the event is very concerning, and she hopes Riak can make better choices in the future.
Shakia Moss said their wedding would have been in four months and five days.
"Our child, his only child, struggles every single day because her hero is no longer here," she said.
Moss said she doesn't care if Riak was the shooter or not; if he cared, he would not have gone through her fiance's pockets while he was on the ground fighting for his life. She said he didn't just take money but a phone that holds memories she will never get back.
"His life was worth more than yours will ever be worth," Moss told Riak. "I will never, ever forgive you nor anybody else who was ever involved in this."
Riak is the only one of the three men to plead guilty to a role in Knight's death. The other two men, Deng Mawat Buk and Nogolweit Kug, are scheduled for a jury trial on murder charges in July.
Remorse
Riak apologized to Moss and Loretta Knight, saying the killing should not have happened. He said he hopes they are blessed and see better days.
"I was young and dumb, not thinking clearly," he said.
He told the judge he doesn't plan on bringing another case to her. He said he doesn't want to be a pawn but wants to be a solution and help make a better community.
Riak's attorney, Samantha Dugan, asked the judge for concurrent sentences in this case and a separate case where he is charged with assaulting a prisoner in the jail. She asked the judge to close two additional cases he was on probation for at the time of the Knight case, based on time he has already spent incarcerated.
She said his "entire life changed" on Sept. 3, 2022, when he was just 21, acknowledging that Knight's life and the lives of his family members changed, too.
"I know that Josh has remorse for what occurred, and not just remorse that his life is going to be in prison … but for the harm and the damage that was done to Mr. Knight," she said.
Dugan asked the judge to consider that he did not have a firearm with him, was not intending for the events to happen and did not pull the trigger. She said he was retrieving money that he believed was his from Knight's pockets.
An active role
Deputy Salt Lake County district attorney Vincent Meister asked for consecutive sentences both for the two charges in the case and each of his other cases. He said Riak played a very active role in the case — he started the gambling that led to the group's interaction with Knight at the convention, he tried to steal the money back from the victim, and he grabbed a man who came to try to help Knight.
"He claims he's just a bystander in the case … he's very much a principal actor in this case," the attorney said, citing video played in the preliminary hearing.
Meister said the incident had multiple victims and potential victims, including people on the street in Salt Lake City who had a gun pointed at them as well.
