Mother-of-3 Gets Plea Deal After Murdering Girl, 4, Kidnapping Sister, 6, and Forcing Her to Live in Pit With Body By Chris Spargo

A judge in Mississippi sentenced a mother-of-three for her role in a fatal kidnapping on Monday.

Victoria Cox, 34, entered a guilty plea to one count each of second-degree murder and kidnapping after striking a deal with prosecutors who had initially charged her with capital murder, kidnapping, and sexual battery.

The charges stem from her role in aiding childhood friend Daniel Callihan, who confessed to murdering 35-year-old Callie Brunett in Louisiana on the night of June 11, 2024 and then kidnapping her two daughters, who were four and six at the time.

The following day he drove to the home where Cox was staying in Louisiana and then drove her and the two kidnapped girls over the Mississippi state line to McComb, a city located approximately 80 miles south of Jackson, according to a written factual basis obtained by PEOPLE.

Callihan said in his factual basis that he and Cox then engaged in criminal sexual activity with the 6-year-old victim, after which he murdered her 4-year-old sister “by holding [her] closely against his chest” while Cox said she did nothing to stop him despite being aware of the fact that he was murdering the child.

In a post-Miranda interview with investigators, Cox corroborated Callihan’s account of the sexual assault of the 6-year-old victim and murder of her younger sister.

It was not until two days after her murder that the body of Brunett was discovered and police launched a search for her daughters.

Brunett’s autopsy revealed she suffered multiple stab wounds and sharp force injuries to her head, neck, chest, abdomen and back.

Callihan had stolen Brunett’s car after murdering the mother and officials were able to track down the vehicle thanks to a massive search effort involving local, state and federal officials.

They discovered the surviving daughter being kept in a pit with her dead sister’s body nearby, according to the factual basis.

Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade called the scene “sickening” at a press conference and said he “observed small cages” and “small wired enclosures” which “led us to believe that it was a location where human trafficking probably could have happened.”

Callihan received three life sentences in federal court earlier this year, where Cox agreed to provide evidence to prosecutors and testify against Callihan.

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She faced only local charges and her trial, where she faced the possibility of a death sentence, had been set to begin Dec. 8.

Cox agreed to plead guilty by submitting a handwritten note to the judge which read: “I’ve been trying to get my attorney to come go over my plea deal with me, but he has failed to do so. I would like to accept it. Can you put me on the court docket?”

Hinds County Circuit Judge Winston Kidd did just that, and after admonishing the defendant and asking how a woman whose own children are nine, eight and six could commit such a crime, sentenced Cox to 40 years in prison for murder and 25 years for kidnapping.

As part of her deal she will serve 40 years, after the judge agreed not to impose a 25-year kidnapping sentence on a consecutive basis.

Her lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.