FAYETTEVILLE, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Anthony Ciliberti, Jr., Prosecuting Attorney, announces that on April 22, 2024, Carl B. Cox, age 62 of Dempsey, Fayette County, West Virginia, was sentenced to two, consecutive life sentences in prison for two convictions for the felony crime of First-Degree Murder by Circuit Judge Paul M. Blake, Jr.
Cox was found guilty of the offenses on February 16, 2024 following a five -day jury trial in which the jury made a
recommendation of mercy for both counts which means Cox could be paroled. Cox must serve thirty (30) years in prison before being eligible for parole.
On January 29, 2022, law enforcement responded to 3148 Dempsey Road in Dempsey, Fayette County, West Virginia in response to a call received by the Fayette County 911 Center regarding a shooting. Upon arriving, 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 stated that upon hearing the gunshot that he ran from the living room to the bedroom and upon entering the bedroom, his daughter exclaimed that her husband, Jimmy Neal, had shot her. Cox further advised that Jimmy Neal still had the gun in his hand and that Neal was wildly shooting around the room.
Cox advised that he wrestled the gun from Neal and then used the firearm to kill Neal. However, during the investigation it was noted that both victims were found lying in their bed and appeared to have been shot where they were found. During the investigation, it was determined that Rhonda M. Cox had sustained a gunshot wound to her chest, and Jimmy Neal sustained gunshot wounds to his neck, chest, and hand.
Two bullet holes were also found in the mattress near Neal’s body further suggesting that Neal had been shot while he was lying in bed. It was further noted that all of the blood from the victims was on the mattress and there were no signs of a struggle in the bedroom. After the crime scene was processed, a search warrant was obtained to access the records for a home surveillance system.
Upon obtaining the videos recorded by the surveillance system, Cox could be seen immediately before the shooting walking toward the bedroom with the murder weapon plainly visible in a holster on Cox’s left hip.
During the trial, Cox testified that he had left the firearm in the bathroom, and that Jimmy Neal must have found the firearm in the bathroom. However, a second video from the home surveillance system showed Cox returning to the living room of residence after the shooting with only 2 ½ minutes having elapsed between the two videos. Two inmates who were housed with Cox while he was awaiting trial also provided information to investigators. The first related that Cox had confessed that he had killed both victims.
The second advised that Cox had 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. According to the second inmate, Cox stated he
went to kill Jimmy Neal and that his daughter had got in the way and he killed her as well.
A daughter and a former son-in-law of Cox also provided information and evidence to support the allegations that Cox had been involved in an incestuous relationship with his daughter, Rhonda, when she was a minor child to further support the motive for the shootings.
This crime was investigated by the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department Detective Bureau. The case was prosecuted by Prosecuting Attorney Anthony Ciliberti, Jr. and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney,
Sarah F. Smith.
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