UPDATE: Cox found guilty of manslaughter in death of daughter’s boyfriend; sentenced to 12 years

After he gunned down his teenage daughter’s boyfriend in 2012, William "Bill" Cox told 9-1-1 dispatchers that "I’m going to prison over this but it’s worth it." Late Thursday night, Cox found out just how long that prison sentence would be.

A Whitley Circuit Court Jury needed three hours to convict Cox, 56, of first-degree manslaughter under extreme emotional disturbance in the Aug. 20, 2012, death of 21-year-old Ryan Abner.

The jury also convicted Cox of two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment for shooting at the car, which Abner was driving. Abner’s passengers were Cox’s daughter, Brittany Cox, and their infant son, Matthew.

Jurors could have recommended as much as 30 years in prison or as little as 10 years behind bars. After 40 minutes of deliberations, the seven-man, five-woman jury returned to the courtroom shortly before 10 p.m. and recommended a 12-year prison sentence.

Judge Paul Winchester scheduled a formal sentencing hearing for April 21. Under Kentucky law, Winchester could reduce the jury’s recommended sentence but he cannot increase it.

William Cox shot Abner three times about 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 20, 2012, in the street near the Forest Circle home where he lived with his daughter and Abner.

Cox’s trial began with jury selection Tuesday that lasted nearly all day.

Opening statements and testimony started Wednesday and concluded Thursday afternoon.

Cox’s daughter testifies

Cox’s daughter, Brittany Cox, who is now a 17-year high school junior, was the last witness called by prosecutors Thursday before they rested their case. She kept a tissue in hand while testifying and cried at various times during her 34 minutes of testimony.

She painted a different picture of what happened on the day of the shooting and of her relationship with Abner than some other witnesses did.

Brittany Cox began dating Abner when she was 13 years old and he was 19 years old. At the time they were neighbors living in Knox County.

"We were just around each other all the time. We were together every day," she told jurors.

Her father wasn’t concerned with the age difference, she testified.

After she got pregnant, Bill Cox moved his daughter to a house in Corbin. He let Brittany and Abner live in the basement.

"I thought it was great. Bill introduced him as his son-in-law. He was like the son he never had," Brittany testified. "I thought everything was fine. I thought we all three had a perfect life."

She denied that Abner ever hit her, became physical with her or hurt her, and said she had no idea why her father thought that he had.

She knew Abner smoked marijuana and had a drug problem, but she said he never took pills in front of her and tried to hide them from her.

The night before the shooting, Brittany, Ryan and the baby went to stay with friends for the night, Brittany testified.

They came back to Corbin to get some more diapers and other items around noon on the day of the shooting.

While they were at the house, Brittany saw her father pull up at the house of Joe Dobson, a neighbor.

Brittany and Ryan left their house, but Brittany forgot her purse so they circled back around towards the house to get it, she testified.

When they drove in front of Dobson’s house, "Bill shot at us," Brittany testified.

Abner drove down the hill a little ways then stopped the vehicle, and started yelling at Bill Cox for shooting at the car with Brittany and the baby inside, but Abner never got out of the car, she testified.

"Ryan started screaming, ‘Why did you do that? You could have killed one of us,’" Brittany said.

Then Bill Cox walked down to the car and stuck a gun in the window.

"The last words I heard Ryan say are ‘You ain’t going to kill me,’" Brittany recalled.

Then her father fired the gun three times. He struck Abner in the head twice and once in the abdomen.

She said she doesn’t know why her father started shooting or why her father would have called child protective services the morning of the shooting.

Different story

During cross examination by defense attorney David Hoskins, Brittany denied telling police on the day of the shooting that the reason she and Abner circled back towards Dobson’s house was "I told Ryan to go around the circle so I could get some money from my dad."

Corbin Police Detective Rusty Hedrick, who was the investigating officer, testified this is the statement that Brittany gave him on the day of the shooting.

Brittany also testified that her father hadn’t called police on the night before the shooting or during the early morning hours on the day of the shooting.

"No police were called while we were there," Brittany testified. "Bill had not called no police while we were there."

Hedrick confirmed that he examined Cox’s cell phone and discovered a 9-1-1, which was made about 12:55 a.m. on the day of the shooting. The 9-1-1 log indicated that the disposition listed for the call was that someone was threatening Cox.

Patsy Cobb, Bill’s sister, who lives in Lily, testified that her brother called her about 12:30 a.m. on the morning of the shooting wanting to know if he could come and spend the night on her couch, which he did.

16-year-old Whitney McDonald testified that she first met Brittany in seventh grade and that the two were like sisters and Bill Cox was like a father to her.

After the baby was born though, McDonald testified that she quit spending quite as much time with Brittany.
"Ryan didn’t want me around I guess," she said.

McDonald testified that she witnessed Abner get physical with Brittany "a lot more than once. He would grab her and jerk her by her face."

In addition, Abner would often "cuss out" Brittany, McDonald said.

She recalled one specific instance about three months before Abner was killed when she was with the couple outside their home and Abner grabbed Brittany by the face while she had the baby in her arms. McDonald said Abner threatened to kill her and her family.

She remembered other occasions when Abner would slap Brittany.

McDonald’s mother, Yolanda Mills, testified that she witnessed Abner get physical with Brittany on one occasion.

Mills said that she saw Abner pulling Brittany along and then put his hands on her neck and try to choke her.

She tried to pull Brittany away from him and then tried to get Brittany to come with her but she wouldn’t do so.

Mills testified she later told Bill Cox about the incident and about incidents of violence that her daughter observed.

Carla Broughton, a former neighbor of the Cox’s who was with Brittany in the delivery room when she had her baby, also testified.

Broughton said that she went to the Cox home on the day of the shooting about 11 a.m. and no one was home.

She phoned Bill to see where everyone was at and he told her that "something bad happened last night."

Cox asked her to get the number of social services for him, which she gave him, Broughton testified.

When Hoskins asked for her impression of Cox’s state of mind that day, she replied, "Bill was fearing for his life, his daughter’s life" and his grandson’s life.

This brought about an objection from Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble, who was the prosecutor in the case. Then Winchester admonished the jury to disregard that statement.

When asked again about Cox’s state of mind that day, Broughton replied, "fear."

Brenda Hall, another of Cox’s sisters, testified that she talked to her brother on the phone about 30 minutes before the shooting.

He asked for the help of her daughter, who is a social worker and therapist.

"He just wanted to know what to do," Hall testified. "He was very afraid, very frightened."

Hoskins then called one additional character witness before resting his case.

Closing arguments

"When you take Brittany’s story as a whole, it just didn’t make sense," Hoskins told jurors during his closing argument.

Hoskins told jurors that the big question wasn’t whether Cox shot Abner but whether the law of self-protection applied to him.

"On that day, Bill Cox had the right to take in the totality of the circumstances," Hoskins argued.

Those circumstances included the fact that Abner had a drug problem, was capable of violence and that he knew Abner sometimes carried a gun.

Hoskins pointed out that after borrowing a gun from Dobson, Cox didn’t go down to his house where Brittany and Ryan were. He stayed there talking to Dobson for 15 minutes.

"Bill did not have it in his head, ‘I am going to kill Ryan Abner," Hoskins argued.

If Abner hadn’t driven back around in front of Dobson’s home the shooting not have occurred, he contended.

He added that not a single witness provided a motive for the shooting.

Hoskins described Abner’s first shot that hit the car as a "warning shot."

Hoskins argued that a reasonable person would not have stopped the car after it was shot and would not have gotten out of it as Abner did.

"When Ryan gets back in the car, Bill is justified in thinking Ryan may have had a gun," Hoskins told jurors.

He added that Cox didn’t want "this tragedy" to happen.

During his closing argument, Trimble told jurors that the shooting was "retaliation" for what Cox perceived as past wrongs.
Even if all the abuse allegations against Abner were true, Trimble asked jurors, "Is that a reason for a man to shoot the father of his grandson three times?"

Trimble contended that the best evidence of what Cox was thinking that day is contained in the call he made to 9-1-1 after the shooting.

"In the 9-1-1 call, he said, ‘I know I am going to prison but it is worth it,’" Trimble noted. "I submit to you there was no evidence of self-defense involved here. This is a case of retaliation, which is murder."

Jurors could have convicted Cox of murder, first-degree manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter or reckless homicide for killing Abner.

After the jury returned its verdict of first-degree manslaughter and two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, the clerk polled the jurors to make sure this was their intended verdict.

All answered, "my verdict."

Jurors recommended a 10-year prison sentence on the manslaughter charge and one-year prison sentences for each wanton endangerment charge. Each was the minimum possible sentence.

They recommended that the sentences be served consecutively for a total sentence of 12 years in prison.

Cox will have to serve 85 percent of his sentence on the manslaughter charge before becoming eligible for parole and 20 percent of his sentence on the wanton endangerment charges before becoming eligible for parole

Cox will turn 57 years old on Feb. 28 and he had no prior violations of the law before the shooting, jurors were told prior to sentencing.