wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina |Robbery at Flying Biscuit brings unborn murder charge, 911 policy change
CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - Four indictments came down Monday against accused Flying Biscuit killer Mark Cox.
The 22-year-old is charged with murdering Danielle Watson, her unborn baby, robbery and felonious larceny. Watson was two months pregnant according to family.
Cox is the first person to be charged with killing an unborn baby in North Carolina under a new state law, just enacted December 1st. Watson was killed six weeks after it went into effect.
Defense attorney Deke Falls says the pregnancy will have to be proved in court, but the new law shouldn't present any major issues for either the defense or prosecution. It's already being used in several assault cases statewide.
"It's going to be an extremely emotional case because of the facts of the case, if it goes to trial," said Falls.
On Monday, Charlotte Mecklenburg Police also released an additional 911 call made by a restaurant co-worker who was opening the day Watson's body was found at Stonecrest Shopping Center.
The co-worker told dispatch that a robbery had taken place and that it appeared like an "inside thing" because she found the safe locked. When she opened the safe, the woman told the dispatcher it was empty.
She did not describe any blood or signs of a struggle. However, police say they seized several bloody items of clothing and a butcher knife from Cox's apartment.
The co-worker's call took place at 6:23 am. Around the same time police responded, a sanitation worker reported finding a body behind a nearby dumpster in the parking lot.
After going through employee records, police realized Watson was the manager assigned to close the restaurant the night before. Mark Cox was also working that night. He was hired a few weeks prior to work in the kitchen.
Police say Cox repeatedly stabbed Watson during a robbery. He's also accused of stealing her car and fleeing to Fayetteville, where he was arrested days later.
Watson's fiancee, Keith Smith, made the original 911 call around midnight to report he was concerned for Watson's welfare. He told the dispatcher the name and address of the restaurant, but the dispatcher misunderstood.
An officer was dispatched to an empty house four miles down Rea Road to a place called "Plum Biscuits," which doesn't exist.
Smith says the dispatcher also failed to call him back when nothing was found.
CMPD says it was a mistake for the dispatcher not to clarify the information. Policy now requires all dispatchers to reaffirm, or repeat back the address.
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