Clinton, Indiana, Woman Pleads Guilty to Murder-for-Hire

URBANA, Ill. – A Clinton, Indiana, woman, Davetta Cox, 32, pleaded guilty on March 7, 2025, to using facilities of interstate commerce in a murder-for-hire scheme. Sentencing for Cox has been set for July 18, 2025, at the U.S. Courthouse in Urbana, Illinois.

At the hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long, Cox admitted to seeking to hire someone she believed to be a hitman to kill another individual. During the hearing, the government provided information that Cox had offered the supposed hitman $6,000 to murder another individual.

Cox was arrested in January 2024 and remains in the custody of the United States Marshals Service, pending sentencing. Cox faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment; up to a $500,000 fine; and up to a six-year term of supervised release.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office, Champaign Resident Agency, and the Illinois State Police investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Ritzer is representing the government in the prosecution.