A former Cocoa Police officer testified in a murder trial Tuesday that he had sex with a 22-year-old woman just a day before she was buried alive almost 10 years ago.

Jovonnie Freeman said he met Darice Knowles on a call, then met with her off-duty after work that night. He testified they had sex and encountered her ex-boyfriend when he dropped her off. It was the second encounter in as many weeks, he said.

As it turned out, that man was involved in a drug ring led by the defendant in the trial. The next day, Knowles was dead.

Freeman teared up at times as he talked about how he met Knowles, who he encountered while responding to a disorderly person call at a Cocoa bar the night of March 16, 2006.

With his supervisor's permission, Freeman was allowed to give Knowles a ride home. He dropped her off at the Dixie Motel about a half-mile away, he said.

They exchanged numbers, and later, he picked up Knowles from the same hotel. They went out, then back to his place where they had sex, and Freeman dropped her back at the motel the next morning, he said.

"I pulled into the parking area. She looked up and she saw a gentleman, and at that point, she said, 'Don't drop me off right here, drive off.' So I drove down to the entrance," Freeman testified.

That man was Christopher Pratt, who the officer had pulled over a week or two before in a traffic stop.

Pratt was Knowles' boyfriend and also an admitted drug dealer from The Bahamas.

Earlier Tuesday, Pratt testified he feared for his own life when he bound Knowles with duct tape, then, under orders from a man named Vahtiece Kirkman, buried her in a hole while she was still alive.

"Her eyes were wide open, a terrified look," Pratt said.

Pratt said that 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.

"As I was doing that, thoughts were running through my mind, 'He's going to kill me and Darice,' " Pratt said from the stand. "He just gave me that ultimatum, either her or both of us."

Pratt testified he and Knowles had been staying in a Cocoa hotel — and he was dealing drugs with a group led by Kirkman, who ordered the pair to drive to a wooded area off State Road 524. On the way, Kirkman stopped by and bought a shovel, bag of concrete and duct tape, which Pratt said he was told to and used to bound the woman, dig a hole in the woods, put her in the ground and cover her with cement and dirt.

Pratt and Knowles — both from The Bahamas — had only been in Brevard County for a few months in late 2005 and early 2006.

The prosecution presented surveillance tape and receipts from a Merritt Island Home Depot from that day.

On the way, Kirkman stopped by and bought a shovel, bag of concrete and the duct tape, which Pratt said he was told to and used to bound the woman, dig a hole in the woods, put her in the ground and cover her with cement and dirt.

Pratt accepted a plea agreement in 2010 for agreeing to testify against Kirkman and lead police to Knowles' body. Kirkman's defense argued that Pratt was never threatened or directed by Kirkman and is responsible for Knowles' death because he was angry she was sleeping with other people.

Knowles vanished in 2006. Her body was found in 2010 in a wooded area of Cocoa after a tip to law enforcement.

Kirkman could face the death penalty and is already serving life in prison for a 2006 murder. The murder trial at the Brevard County Courthouse is expected to last about two weeks.


Darice Knowles


Christopher Pratt testifies Tuesday, April 5, 2016 during a murder trial for Vahtiece Kirkman. Pratt said that he feared for his life and was ordered by Kirkman to bury alive his girlfriend, 22-year-old Darice Knowles, almost 10 years ago.