SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - A Missouri man has been sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting of his mother.
Greene County prosecutors said in a news release Monday that 23-year-old Connor Cox won't be eligible for parole until he has served 25 1/2 years. He was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the February 2018 death of Angela Cox at the family's Springfield-area home. He originally was charged with first-degree murder.
Court documents said he told a sheriff's deputy that his mother "didn't even see it coming" when he walked into her home office and shot her in the neck. He said he she was "always being down" and so he thought he would "end that," reports the Springfield News-Leader.
According to court documents, Cox recalled his father telling him that morning, "Don't hurt her," and Cox said that his father's words "didn't resonate well with me." Court documents say Cox's father had previously tried to hide the family's gun from Cox.
Cox entered the plea just days after a previous plea hearing fell through when he told a judge that he didn't "knowingly" kill his mother, which is a necessary component of second-degree murder.