Carjacker, 16, sentenced as adult in attack on Eminem's mom

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A 16-year-old who carjacked and robbed the mother of rap star Eminem was sentenced Monday to at least 4 years and 3 months in prison.

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James Antonio Knott of Detroit also was ordered to pay $3,473 in restitution to Debbie Nelson, 49, Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Margaret Scott said.

Knott pleaded guilty to carjacking and armed robbery charges in the Jan. 22 attack on Nelson at an Oak Park gas station located on Eight Mile Road — made famous by her son’s movie, “8 Mile.” She said she suffered bruises, a broken foot, neck pain and insomnia.

Nelson was present for Monday’s sentencing hearing but did not make a statement, Scott said.

Circuit Judge Fred Mester sentenced Knott as an adult, but the teen will be segregated from inmates older than age 21, said his attorney, J. Herbert Larson of Sylvan Lake.

Knott faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. But with credit for good behavior and nearly three months’ time already served, Knott could be released before his 21st birthday, Larson said.

Nelson said her attacker waved a silver revolver in her face, punched her in the head and dragged her and her dog out of her 2002 Honda Accord. Police arrested him after he got stuck in traffic about a mile from the gas station and fled on foot, Scott said.

Nelson has said she thinks Knott should be punished, but that her “main concern is that he’s rehabilitated and won’t do this again.”

Nelson’s rocky relationship with Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, has been well-known since the Detroit rapper became a star. He has disparaged her in his music and she has settled two defamation lawsuits over his statements that portrayed her as an unstable drug-user