Mississippi executes man for murdering his wife, sexually abusing stepdaughter

A Mississippi inmate who killed his ex-wife and sexually abusing young stepdaughter was executed by lethal injection Wednesday night.

Man executed for murdering his wife and sexually abusing his stepdaughter

David Neal Cox, 50, was executed at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman after filing court papers calling himself “worthy of death” and dismissing all appeals.

Cox, was pronounced dead after being given a cocktail of lethal drugs at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, the state Department of Corrections reported.

Mississippi had gone nine years without executing a death row inmate, but in 2018 Cox waived his legal representation and appeals and asked the state to end his life as he “deserved to die.”

David Cox was sentenced to death by a jury in 2012 after pleading guilty to murdering his then-wife, Kim Kirk Cox, two years earlier and sexually abusing his stepdaughter, who was 12 at the time.

That woman, now 23, attended the prison Wednesday to witness the execution.

During the night of May 14-15, 2010, Cox rioted in a home in Sherman, in the northeastern part of the state, with his then-wife, stepdaughter and one of their two children.

Over the course of an eight-hour riot, Cox shot the wife to death in front of the children and sexually abused the stepdaughter several times. In the early hours of the morning, police stormed the house without Cox showing much resistance.

Eight nightmarish hours

During the night of May 14-15, 2010, Cox locked himself in a home in Sherman, in the northeastern part of the state, with his then-wife, stepdaughter and one of their two children.

Over the course of an eight-hour lockdown, Cox shot and killed the wife in front of the children and sexually abused the stepdaughter several times. In the early hours of the morning, the police broke into the house without Cox offering any resistance.

His last words before receiving the injection on Wednesday were: “I want to tell my children that I love them very much and that at one time I was a good man.