Two indicted after body found in wreckage of car fire at Prentice Cooper State Forest

Photo contributed by TBI / Kaleb Cox / Thumbnail
Photo contributed by TBI / Kaleb Cox / Thumbnail
photo Photo contributed by TBI / Kaleb Cox

Two people accused of trying to dispose of a 22-year-old man's body in Prentice Cooper State Forest earlier this year have now been indicted in connection with the slaying.

Kaleb Cox, 22, and Johnbeth Holland, 23, were arrested in February after the body of Sean Moss was found in a burning car on the state forest's Game Preserve Road in Marion County.

photo Photo contributed by TBI / Johnbeth Holland

Forestry officers spotted a seemingly unoccupied silver Toyota sedan running on the side of the gravel road just after 4 a.m. on Feb. 6, according to Hamilton County court records.

About two-and-a-half hours later, the officers saw the same vehicle with smoke coming from it. They tried to extinguish the fire but only made it worse by opening the door. The officers never saw a body in the vehicle, but the back seat was covered in clothes and towels, according to court records.

By 7:30 a.m., firefighters arrived and extinguished the fire. Human remains were discovered a few minutes later, court records state, and Marion County sheriff's deputies and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation were notified.

Over the course of the investigation, authorities discovered that Moss had actually been killed in Hamilton County, court records stats.

The burned vehicle turned out to have been registered to Moss, and state surveillance footage showed the vehicle entered the forest with another vehicle - a Volkswagen sedan - around 3:45 a.m., court records show.

A registration check showed the Volkswagen belonged to the mother of Holland, Cox's girlfriend.

Investigators also found evidence that Moss' last contact was with Cox.

Cox initially told investigators that he panicked because Moss had overdosed and died. So Cox and Holland drove to the state forest, and while there, Cox started a fire to destroy the vehicle, court records state.

Holland, however, declined to answer investigators' questions and asked for an attorney.

By the next day, the medical examiner's office called investigators to let them know that Moss's body had "projectiles in the chest cavity," according to court records.

Cox was interviewed again and admitted to shooting Moss "after a disagreement over narcotics" while at Cox's Red Bank home, court records state.

Cox went on to reenact the homicide for investigators. He contends that the killing was in self-defense after Moss drew a revolver-style pistol on him.

"According to Cox, he took Moss' weapon after killing him and placed it in the wooded area behind his residence," investigators wrote in the criminal affidavit. "A search of the area with an explosive detection K-9 was met with negative results."

Cox and Holland were arrested on Feb. 6. Their cases were sent to the grand jury in July after they waived their right to a preliminary hearing.

The grand jury returned an indictment on Oct. 28, and the two were arrested again on Dec. 4, according to online jail records.

Cox faces one count of first-degree murder. Holland is charged with accessory after the fact. They both face two counts of abuse of a corpse and one count of tampering with evidence.

Contact Rosana Hughes at 423-757-6327, rhughes@timesfreepress.com or follow her on Twitter @HughesRosana.

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