Bobby Damont Gross will spend more than 20 years behind bars for fatally stabbing 25-year-old Todd Ehardt in a Manassas parking lot in August 2023, after Ehardt showed up to confront Gross about issues involving a family member. Gross pulled a knife during the encounter and stabbed Ehardt in the chest, a wound that severed his trachea and left him bleeding uncontrollably before he collapsed and was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.
Gross pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and stabbing in the commission of murder, and was sentenced to 45 years in prison with 23 years suspended, according to DC News Now. That leaves him with more than 20 years of active prison time, followed by five years of supervised probation once he is released. Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth announced the sentence, saying it reflects “the seriousness of the offense and its lasting impact on Todd Ehardt’s family and the community.”
The stabbing happened at approximately 10:20 p.m. on August 25, 2023, in a commercial parking lot in the 7400 block of Sudley Road, according to WUSA9. Responding officers found Ehardt suffering from a chest wound before he was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced deceased. Ashworth said the prosecution “brought accountability for the actions that took Todd Ehardt’s life,” calling his death “a senseless act of violence.”
A Suspect Already Wanted for a Prior Stabbing
Gross was not a stranger to Prince William County Police when Ehardt was killed. At the time of the fatal stabbing, he was already wanted for allegedly stabbing a 26-year-old man multiple times in a wooded area on Stream Walk Lane in Manassas just weeks earlier, on June 4, 2023, according to Daily Voice. Police had charged him with aggravated malicious wounding in that earlier case, and he remained at large in the Manassas area when the confrontation with Ehardt turned deadly…