Cox sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for Fayette murders
Apr. 22—Carl B. Cox, 62, of Dempsey, was sentenced on April 22 in Fayette County Circuit Court to two consecutive life sentences in prison for two convictions of the felony crime of first-degree murder, according to a press release from the Fayette County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, Anthony Ciliberti Jr.
Circuit Judge Paul M. Blake Jr. sentenced Cox, who was found guilty of the offenses on Feb. 16 following a five-day jury trial in front of Judge Blake. The jury in the trial recommended mercy for both counts, which means Cox could be paroled. He must serve 30 years in prison before being eligible for parole, however, Ciliberti pointed out.
The murders occurred on Jan. 29, 2022, the press release stated before giving a rundown of the case.
On that date, law enforcement officials responded to 3148 Dempsey Road in Dempsey, in response to a call received by the Fayette County 911 Center regarding a shooting. Upon arrival, the defendant, Carl B. Cox, advised a law enforcement officer that he had heard a gunshot in the bedroom of his daughter, Rhonda M. Cox, and his son-in-law, James A. "Jimmy" Neal II.
Cox said that upon hearing the shot, he ran from the living room to the bedroom and, upon entering the bedroom, his daughter told him that her husband, Jimmy Neal, had shot her. Cox further told law enforcement that Neal still had the gun in his hand and was wildly firing around the room.
Cox said he wrestled the gun from Neal and then used the firearm to shoot him. However, during the investigation, it was discovered that both victims were found lying in their bed and appeared to have been shot where they were found.
Law enforcement officials determined that Rhonda M. Cox had sustained a gunshot wound to her chest, and Neal suffered gunshot wounds to his neck, chest and hand. During the investigation, two bullet holes were also found in the mattress near Neal's body, further suggesting that he had been shot while he was lying in bed, according to the release.
Officials further noted that all of the victims' blood was on the mattress and there was no evidence of a struggle in the bedroom.
After the crime scene was processed, a search warrant was obtained to access the records of a home surveillance system, Ciliberti pointed out in the release. After obtaining the videos recorded by the system, officials could see Carl B. Cox, immediately before the shooting, walking toward the bedroom with the murder weapon plainly visible in a holster on his left hip.
During the trial, Cox testified that he had left the firearm in the bathroom, and that Neal must have found the gun there. However, a second video from the home surveillance system showed Cox returning to the living room of the residence after the shooting with only 2 1/2 minutes having elapsed between the two videos, the release stated.
According to Ciliberti, two inmates who were housed with Cox while he was awaiting trial also provided information to investigators.
The first said that Cox had confessed that he had killed both victims. The second advised that Cox admitted to him that he had intended to kill his son-in-law, Jimmy Neal, because Neal was threatening to come forward with information that Cox had been involved in an incestuous relationship with his daughter, Rhonda, when she was a minor child.
The second inmate also told investigators that Cox said he went to kill Neal and that his daughter got in the way and he killed her as well.
Another daughter and a former son-in-law of Cox also provided information and evidence to support the allegations that he had been involved in an incestuous relationship with Rhonda Cox, when she was a minor child to further support the motive for the shootings, Ciliberti said in the release.
The crime was investigated by the Fayette County Sheriff's Department's Detective Bureau and the case was prosecuted by Ciliberti and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Sarah F. Smith.
