David Neal Cox executed for 2010 murder in Union County

David Neal Cox was executed at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman today, Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021, for a murder he committed in Union County 11-1/2 years ago.

The Department of Corrections said Cox died at At 6:12 PM.

Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards witnessed the execution. “It seemed to me that the Department of Corrections had the execution well planned and it went according to plan. Cox appeared to quietly go to sleep,” Edwards told NEMiss.News while he and Chief Deputy Baron Baker were enroute back to Union County from Parchman. The sheriff said members of the victim’s family were present as were members of Cox’s family

Cox was executed for the May 2010 murder of his estranged wife Kim Kirk Cox.  Cox, age 50, died by lethal injection,

In early 2010, David Cox had been incarcerated for about nine months, charged with the sexual abuse of his young step-daughter. He had also found in possession of illegal drug-related items; a $200,000 bond was set. His wife, Kim, had pressed the abuse charges that had him arrested. Throughout his incarceration, Cox had often voiced threats to kill his wife whenever he managed to make bond.

About one month before the murder, Cox managed to have his bond reduced, and Kim Cox began to fear for her safety after learning that he was out on bond.

Having made plans to enter a safe house the following Monday, May 17, Kim Cox had left her home, and was in her sister’s home, with her teen daughter and two young sons. David Cox shot his way into the house in Sherman on Friday, May 14, 2010. Kim Cox’s sister managed to grab one of the boys and they escaped to a neighbor’s house.

When law officers began arriving on the scene, David Cox was holding his wife, his pre-teen step-daughter, and one of his sons hostage. He shot his wife and left her to a lingering death, observed by her children. He also raped his step-daughter in view of her dying mother.  When officers stormed the house over eight hours later, Kim Cox was dead. David Cox surrendered.

David Cox eventually pleaded guilty to capital murder and several other charges. He was sentenced in Union County Circuit Court to death for the murder and to over 180 years for other charges. Then began a long series of appeals of his sentence. This ended in 2021 when a court ruled in favor of Cox’s request to waive further appeals and go ahead with his execution.