CHARLOTTE
A Mecklenburg grand jury on Monday indicted Mark Anthony Cox in the murders of Flying Biscuit Cafe manager Danielle Watson and her unborn baby.
The Charlotte Observer reported that it marks the first time prosecutors in North Carolina have obtained a murder indictment involving the death of an unborn baby, according to the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts in Raleigh. Under a state law that went into effect last month, anyone accused of killing a pregnant woman could face two murder charges: one for the woman, the other for her fetus.
The grand jury indicted Cox on charges of murder, murder of an unborn child, robbery with a dangerous weapon and felonious larceny.
The 22-year-old, a convicted felon, could face the death penalty if prosecutors decide to try him for his life.
Watson, 25, was killed Jan. 13 at the restaurant off Rea Road in the StoneCrest shopping center in south suburban Charlotte. She was two months pregnant.
Cox told his sister he had killed the cafe manager, then left his bloody clothes and a butcher knife in his apartment before fleeing, according to a search warrant.
Cox was released from prison in November after serving time on robbery and breaking and entering charges, according to N.C. Department of Correction records.
Since Watson's slaying, the Flying Biscuit Cafe has come under criticism for hiring Cox. Watson's death also has prompted the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department to tighten its dispatching policy.
The department's 911 system came under fire after Watson's body was found behind a Dumpster about six hours after her boyfriend, Keith Smith, called police saying he thought a robbery was happening at the Flying Biscuit Cafe.
When Smith called 911, the call-taker typed in the wrong address. He is now on administrative leave. The responding officer searched a business park near the erroneous address but not the Flying Biscuit, located about four miles away.
The policy change requires 911 call-takers to confirm addresses.
After Watson's killing, police searched the apartment where Cox lived with his sister, mother and another man, according to the search warrant.
As they arrived at the apartment, investigators say they saw "a blood trail leading to the residence as well as blood on the front door," the search warrant says.
Police also saw what appeared to be blood throughout the apartment. A large butcher knife was on the kitchen counter in a mug filled with an unknown liquid, according to the warrant.
Cox told his sister he stabbed Watson multiple times during an argument inside the cafe, the warrant says.
Cox's sister told police her brother's work uniform was soaked in blood and stuffed in a plastic bag, according to the warrant. She also informed police her brother told her he "had taken the victim's vehicle and was planning on dumping the bloody clothes and vehicle in a river."
Cox was arrested at a friend's house in the Fayetteville area.
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