In what was supposed to be a straightforward transaction, a 40-year-old man, Robert Lester 'Rob' Cox II, of Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, was killed on October 26, 2020. Cox, the co-owner of a construction company, had traveled to Houston, Mississippi, with his 22-year-old stepdaughter to purchase a car they had seen advertised on social media. The arranged meeting, however, turned out to be a fatal ambush.
Upon arriving at a rundown, vacant house for the supposed car sale, Cox and his stepdaughter, Alexis Tallant, were met by three individuals. One of the men was armed with a gun and another with a baseball bat. An altercation ensued, during which Cox was struck with the bat and then shot multiple times. His stepdaughter, who was also fired upon, managed to escape and hide until law enforcement arrived.
The investigation into Cox's death led to the arrests of three Houston residents: Jarquavious Doss, Jeremiah Fears, and Lamarius Spraggins. The men were charged with capital murder, armed robbery, conspiracy, and aggravated assault. It was revealed that the advertisement for the car was a fabrication created to lure a victim.
In the subsequent legal proceedings, Jarquavious Doss was identified by the stepdaughter as the shooter and was found guilty of capital murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Jeremiah Fears, who admitted to creating the fake social media post, was also convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The third man, Lamarius Spraggins, pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder.
