JACKSON, Miss — Victoria Cox stood before the judge wearing a brown jumpsuit with chains around her waist, her hands shackled to it. As the prosecution read out the three counts against her, she started wiping away tears from her face.
“Ms. Cox is presumed innocent. She’s not guilty until the state proves otherwise,” said Cox’s public defender Christoper Routh.
Routh stood next Cox Tuesday morning as she pleaded not guilty in a Hinds County, Mississippi courtroom.
“I can’t talk about our defense strategy or what we will or won’t do other than to say we’re in the very early stages right now.
Cox was indicted on capital murder, kidnapping, and sexual battery charges in Mississippi, connected to last month’s death and kidnapping case out of Tangipahoa Parish. Cox is accused of helping Daniel Callihan kidnap two young sisters after allegedly killing their mother, Callie Brunett, 35, in Loranger.
The girls, a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old, were brought to Jackson. That’s where the younger girl, Erin Brunett, was found dead in a wooded area. Her sister was found alive.
“It’s a murder charge,” said Routh. “There’s a lot involved in it there’s a lot that’s already gone into it and that means there’s a lot we have to digest as the defense in order to adequately defend anyone, not just Ms. Cox.”
Routh says he’s still waiting on prosecutors to hand over information to start building a case. Meanwhile, Callihan, who is back in Louisiana, faces a list of charges including two counts of murder and kidnapping. He also pleaded not guilty, even though he made a confession to WWL Louisiana days after the crime.
“I have no reason for what I did,” said Callihan in June.
The capital murder charge against Cox is for the kidnapping and death of Erin Brunett. The kidnapping charges is for the abduction of her 6-year-old sister. The sexual battery charge is connected to alleged sexual acts committed against the 6-year-old.
Routh says it’ll take time before everything plays out in a courtroom.
“It’s a lengthy process and in this case in particular there are multiple jurisdictions involved,” said Routh. “It’s a lot of moving parts and they’ve got to be accounted for.”
Cox is also facing murder and kidnapping charges back in Louisiana. She is expected to be booked into the Tangipahoa Parish Jail, but as of Tuesday morning the sheriff’s office was uncertain of when that’ll happen.
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