The state of Mississippi carried out its first execution in nine years tonight, lethally injecting David Neil Cox at 6:12 p.m. at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman for the brutal 2010 murder of his wife, Kim Cox, who he had openly threatened to kill for months while jailed.
David Cox, 50, died strapped to a gurney as his stepdaughter and other family members watched through a glass window, ending a case that exposed systemic failures in the justice system and a killer who announced his intentions to anyone who would listen.
“I told everyone I was going to do it,” Cox said with a smile to police after they broke down the door of his sister-in-law’s home in Sherman, Mississippi, on May 15, 2010, finding him standing over Kim’s body as she bled to death
The execution was scheduled for 6 p.m., and Cox shared his last meal of banana pudding, fried catfish, french fries and cornmeal with corrections officials and a chaplain before being moved to the death chamber.
In his final words, Cox told the witnesses, “I want my children to know that I love them very much and that I was a good man at one time. Don’t ever read anything but the King James Bible.” He made no mention of his wife.
The lethal injection of pentobarbital began at 6 p.m., and within 12 minutes, Cox was pronounced dead, becoming the first person executed in Mississippi since 2012.
The case began in August 2009, when Cox’s stepdaughter reported years of sexual abuse, leading to his arrest on charges including statutory rape, sexual battery, child abuse and drug possession. While jailed, Cox repeatedly told cellmates, “I’m going to kill her when I get out.”
Despite those threats, a judge granted Cox bail in April 2010. Kim Cox went into hiding with her sister, but her husband had planned for months. On May 14, 2010, he bought a .
40-caliber handgun and extra ammunition.
He drove to the home where Kim was staying with her sister and children. Without warning, Cox kicked in the front door, fired a shot into the ceiling and announced, “If anyone tries to leave, I’ll kill everyone.”
During the chaos, Kim’s sister and one of Cox’s sons escaped and called 911. Police surrounded the house and negotiators tried to reach Cox, but he refused to release his hostages, telling them, “I’m not leaving until Kim is dead.”
Sometime during the ordeal, Cox shot Kim in the abdomen. As she bled on the floor for more than eight hours, he refused to let her receive medical help, saying, “I want to watch her die slowly.”
A SWAT team breached the house at 3:23 a. m. on May 15, 2010, but it was too late.
Kim Cox died at the scene. Her children, ages 8 and 10 at the time, witnessed their mother’s prolonged death.
Cox pleaded guilty to eight charges including capital murder, kidnapping and burglary. The jury unanimously recommended the death penalty, and he was sentenced to death row in 2012.
In 2018, Cox wrote a letter to the judge, district attorney and his lawyer requesting that all appeals be stopped. He admitted killing Kim and said he would do it again if given the chance. A competency hearing in February 2021 found him legally capable of making that decision.
Then in October 2021, Cox revealed another secret: He confessed to murdering his sister-in-law, Felicia Cox, who disappeared in July 2007. He drew a map showing where he buried her body near Pontotoc County.
On December 13, 2021, human remains were found at that location, and DNA confirmed they belonged to Felicia Cox on Christmas Eve. Her family finally had answers after 14 years of anguish.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves denied clemency on November 16, stating that Cox would die as scheduled.
Lindsay Kirk, Cox’s stepdaughter who was 12 when her mother was killed, witnessed the execution. She told reporters afterward that she felt relief. “He can’t hurt anyone anymore,” she said.
Kim’s father, Benny Kirk, said his family would never be whole again, but acknowledged that justice had been served.
The case has reignited debates about the death penalty and the failure of the bail system. Cox spent nine months in jail threatening murder, and authorities were aware of those threats, yet he was released.
Prosecutors argued that Cox was beyond redemption. Opponents of capital punishment noted that Cox actively sought execution, raising questions about whether the state granted him what he wanted.
But for Kim’s family, the execution brought a long-awaited end to a nightmare that began when she married a man who would later become a monster.
David Neil Cox is dead. His final act was telling the world he was once a good man. Those who knew him — his wife, his stepdaughter, his children — know the truth.
