After pleading guilty to the murder of Chillicothe police officer Larry Cox, John Parsons was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. Parsons entered a plea of guilty to four counts of aggravated murder and other counts related to his escape from the Ross County Jail.
Moments after entering his plea, Parsons listened without emotion as members of the family of officer Larry Cox offered victim impact statements. Family members wore light blue sweatshirts with the officer's picture on the front. Cox's father told Parsons that "Larry loved living, and you took that away from him."
Velvet Cox O'Day, who described herself as Larry's little sister, told Parsons his act of violence has caused "an aching in the heart that words cannot describe."
Saying the good done by officer Larry Cox was not buried with him and lives on today, Ross County Common Pleas Judge William Corzine sentenced Parsons to life in prison without parole. Parsons could have been given the death penalty.