A Clinton, Indiana, woman has been indicted on murder-for-hire charges, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. Davetta Cox, 31, is accused of attempting to pay a hitman to commit murder between January 16, 2024, and January 26, 2024.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of Illinois, the indictment handed out on February 6 claims that Cox offered $6,000 to someone she believed was a hitman. The accused was nabbed in Charleston, Illinois, and has been behind bars in Macon County since her January 26 arrest.
If found guilty of these alleged crimes, Cox faces a daunting tally of penalties, including up to 20 years of lock-up, fines climbing as high as $500,000, and up to six years of supervised release post-confinement.
Investigative efforts by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Springfield Field Office and the Illinois State Police led to the charges against Cox. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Ritzer is shouldering the government's case in prosecution. Despite the grave nature of the charges, officials stress the sacred principle that undergirds our justice system: an indictment does not strip a person of their presumption of innocence.
As the case unfolds, the community awaits further details on a story that, for now, raises more questions than it answers about the thin and treacherous line between thought and action, legality and morality, survival, and despair.
