Executed Killer and Child Rapist Confesses to a Final Crime from the Grave

David Neal Cox pleaded guilty to shooting his wife, Kim Kirk Cox, and sexually assaulting her 12-year-old daughter in front of her as she lay dying in May 2010. On November 17, 2021, that same stepdaughter, Lindsey Kirk, watched as 50-year-old Cox was executed by lethal injection at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, Mississippi. He was the first inmate to be executed in the state in nine years.

Before his execution, he had requested a final meal of fried catfish, French fries, and banana pudding, according to Prison Commissioner Cain’s comments at the press briefing held before the execution. Cain also added, “I know it’s unique to say but he has been upbeat.”

As for Cox, his final words were brief:

“I want to tell my children that I love them very, very much and that I was a good man at one time, and only read the King James [version] of the Bible, and I appreciate the Commissioner for being so nice to me. That’s all I got to say.”

Midazolam, vecuronium bromide, and potassium chloride were injected into Cox’s veins without incident. Cox was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. according to prison officials.

Cox had shown no remorse for the murder of his wife or the sexual abuse of his stepdaughter. In a July 2018 letter to his trial court judge, he wrote the following (spelling errors are per his original letter):

“if I had my perfect way & will about it, Id ever so gladly dig my dead sarkastic wife up of in whom I very happiliy & premeditatedly slaughtered on 5–14–2010 & with eager pleasure kill the fat heathern hore agan . . . & would do it agan & agan, happilly if chance was given.”

He sent a second letter in August 2018, asking to waive all appeals and be executed immediately. He deemed himself “worthy of death” and asked that they grant his wish.

A third letter, also sent in August 2018, included the following (once again, with spelling errors per original):

“I am Anabaptist, namely, old order Amish, & it is in conflict with my religeon to have lawyers. The First Amendment of the United State of America gives me the freedom of Religon & in Anabaptism we Anabaptist do NOT associate ourselves with any lawyers or state representatives. . . . I ask the court to evaluate the First Amendment & grant me my American rite as a American citizen to exrocise my Anabaptist faith in God with good conscious in the sight of Jesus Christ-my mediator.”

Finally, on November 5, 2018, he sent a fourth letter to the court, once again calling himself “worthy of death” and indicating that he had no desire to challenge the State of Mississippi's desire to execute him. He asked that all counsel be terminated and all appeals be dropped, citing ineffective and inefficient counsel as his basis for the request. He indicated that he wanted to bring closure to his victims and family by being executed as quickly as possible.

On October 21, 2021, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that Cox was competent to waive his appeals and did so voluntarily and “intelligently.” The ruling ended all efforts by the Mississippi Capitol Post-Conviction Counsel (CPCC) to continue the appeals they had been waging against the wishes of Cox. Their continued efforts had been based on ethics that guide them to intervene on behalf of clients who suffer from diminished capacity.

In interviews preceding the execution, Lindsey Kirk, had this to say to The Associated Press:

“When I found out that he was wanting to go ahead and get it over with, I wasn’t really happy about it. Like, I kind of just wanted him to sit there. I guess I’m OK with it now.”

It was the first time that Lindsey had allowed the press to use her name and photograph in association with the case. She told the reporters that Cox had worked as a commercial truck driver until he had suffered a back injury. After that, he lived on disability benefits. She said that he had been sexually assaulting her for several years and threatening to hurt her. When she finally gathered the courage to report the abuse, he was arrested. After he was released, he made good on his promise.

David and Kim Cox had separated in 2009 after Lindsey had revealed the sexual abuse to her mother. Cox was arrested for his crime but later released. In May 2010, Cox purchased a handgun and ammunition. He broke into the home of his sister-in-law where his victims were staying. The sister-in-law escaped with one of Cox’s biological children and called the police, but Kim and Lindsey were trapped there with him.

Cox shot his estranged wife in the stomach. Her death would have been slow and painful. It was made even more painful as she was forced to watch helplessly as he raped her twelve-year-old daughter three separate times — continuing even while police gathered outside and pleaded with him to release his hostages.

Cox was eventually taken in and charged with the murder of his estranged wife and rape of his step-daughter. One would believe that his execution for these crimes was the end of the story, but it's not.

Years earlier, David Cox had also taken the life of another sister-in-law. In July 2007, 40-year-old Felicia Cox vanished. Cox had always been the only suspect in the cold case, but there was never enough evidence to charge him with the crime.

In an unexpected twist, Cox confessed to her murder - from the grave.

Three weeks prior to his execution, Cox had revealed to his attorneys that he had murdered Felicia Cox and drawn them a crude map of where he had disposed of her body. He waived his attorney-client privilege effective only after his death, according to District Attorney John Weddle. Two days after his execution, the series of confessions written by Cox and given to his attorneys arrived at the district attorney’s office.

This week, the Pontotoc County Sheriff’s Department, along with the DA’s office and Mississippi State University archeology and anthropology experts have announced that they’ve located remains they believe to be those of Felicia Cox. They will need to be sent for DNA testing to confirm her identity but given that they were located per the confessed killer’s map, it is likely that she will finally be returned to her family for a proper burial, giving them some closure at last.