GUILTY FL - Darice Knowles, 22, Cocoa, 17 March 2006

Darice Knowles entered the U.S. in February of 2006 as a Bahamian National. On 06/11/2006, Darice Knowles was reported missing from the Dixie Motel located in Cocoa, FL. Foul play is suspected in the disappearance of Darice Knowles.

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Working on a tip from an inmate, the Cocoa Police Department has reopened a cold case and is actively looking for the remains of a woman missing since March of 2006.

The area is off of SR524 about a mile west of Publix. Police began searching the area around 8:00 a.m. Tuesday. They are looking for the remains of Darice Knowles who was 22 when she disappeared.

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COCOA, Fla. -- Police in Cocoa said they found a body believed to be that of a Bahamian woman reported missing in 2006.

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A woman whose body was discovered Friday in Cocoa was bound with duct tape, covered in concrete and buried in a shallow grave, WESH 2 News learned Wednesday night.

Darice Knowles, 22, had been in Brevard County only a few weeks before she disappeared in 2006.

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Police investigators found the body of 22-year-old Darice Knowles in an area west of Cox Road on July 30. Knowles, a native of the Bahamas, was last seen in February 2006.

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Within hours of being charged with the murder of 22-year-old Darice Knowles, 31-year-old Christopher Pratt not only pleaded guilty to killing her, he recounted in detail how he buried her alive...

The beauty pageant contestant moved from the Bahamas to Cocoa to stay with Pratt before enrolling in school. Pratt said he told Knowles that he and Vahltiece Kirkman had just killed a man named Willie Parker while trying to rob him. Pratt said he saw Knowles talking to a police officer and told Kirkman. Pratt said Kirkman later ordered Pratt at gunpoint to tie the woman up with duct tape, dig a hole and bury her in concrete and dirt...

Pratt will serve 20 years for two murders. In exchange, he must testify against Kirkman in both murder cases or else the plea deal could be revoked and Pratt could face the death penalty.

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OkieGranny said:

Cannot find where Kirkman was ever prosecuted for Darice's horrendous death. Florida DOC only shows a life sentence for Willie Parker's murder.

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KayElJay said:

The above article spelled his first name incorrectly. It's Vahteice Kirkman. Thankfully, he was tried, convicted, & also sentenced to life. http://www.dc.state.fl.us/ActiveInmates/detail.asp?Bookmark=1&From=list&SessionID=47188380

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Jury selection is underway for the trial of a Cocoa man charged with kidnapping a Bahamian woman and burying her alive in concrete a decade ago.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for 37-year-old Vahtiece Alfonzo Kirkman, who is already serving a life sentence in state prison for his role in the 2006 robbery-related shooting death of 29-year-old Willie Parker in Cocoa.

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The boyfriend of a woman who died after being buried alive testified in court Tuesday that he feared for his own life when he bound and buried her in a wooded area of Cocoa almost 10 years ago.

Pratt said that Vahtiece Kirkman told him to get rid of Knowles after learning that she had been seen with a Cocoa Police officer and may have given information about their drug-dealing. He testified that Kirkman was standing behind him while he buried Knowles.

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A Brevard County man who could be put to death for the alleged murder of a beauty queen took on his own attorney in court Wednesday.

A few deputies said they saw Vahtiece Kirkman’s attorney fall asleep in the court room Tuesday, while another attorney said she didn’t see anything.

Kirkman said it’s his life on the line and reminded the judge prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in his case.

“It is what it is. I’m the one that got to live with this. Not you, not my attorney, not the news people, not my family,” said Kirkman.

Kirkman is on trial for his role in the death of Darice Knowles.

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Usual proceedings were placed on hold Wednesday morning as Kirkman urged a judge to review courtroom cameras, claiming his attorney fell asleep Tuesday as the jury was listening to jail calls.

“I ain’t the smartest person in the world, but I got to watch my surroundings because it’s my life. You know what I’m saying?” said Kirkman.

A judge called several deputies to the stand, asking them what they observed.

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Kirkman’s attorney took the stand and said he wasn’t feeling well, and only shut his eyes for 30 seconds or so.

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The judge will review the courtroom cameras and decide.

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The death penalty trial of Vahtiece Kirkman ground to a halt today as prosecutors struggled with one witness on the stand and worked to locate another needed for testimony.

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Kirkman, 37, also stood and made a rambling statement about the time it's taken to bring the case to court.

"You know it's been a long two weeks," he told Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Mahl after the jury had been dismissed for the day. "(The state) done had ten years...my family, my grandmother is 80 years old, she can't take much more...everybody is ready."

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Mahl, who is allowing prosecutors time to find the missing witness, gave a flustered appearing Kirkman a terse response after his first statement.

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Respess said the state plans to rest its case tomorrow.

The trial will last into next week. Jurors will then decide whether to recommend the death penalty or life in prison for Kirkman.

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A Florida jury on Friday found a man accused of ordering his former drug associate to bury a woman alive guilty of murder reports CBS affiliate WKMG.

Vahtiece Kirkman was found guilty in connection with the 2006 disappearance and death of 22-year-old Darice Knowles, a Bahamian national who was visiting friends in Cocoa, Florida.

Kirkman's former partner, Christopher Pratt, testified on Tuesday that Kirkman ordered him to kill Knowles, or die along with her.

"He gave me this ultimatum- it's either her or both of us," Pratt said, who took a plea deal in 2010 as part of agreement to testify against Kirman.

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Prosecutors will seek the death penalty at Kirkman's sentencing on Monday.

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Vahtiece Kirkman was sentenced to death Friday afternoon after the conviction of the Darice Knowles murder in 2006.

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