Man Gets Three Life Sentences For 2024 Triple Murder In Catawba County

An Iron Station man will spend the rest of his life in prison after being given three consecutive life sentences in a triple-murder case. He will serve those sentences without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder of his girlfriend and her parents.

28-year-old Issac Nathaniel Christenbury was given the three consecutive life terms by the Honorable Donald R. Cureton, Superior Court Judge from Mecklenburg County. Christenbury pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder during Catawba County Superior Court Wednesday (February 19).

Christenbury shot and killed 28-year-old Jenna Cox and her parents, 61-year-old Charles Cox and 61-year-old Cyndi Cox at a residence in Maiden on October 22, 2024. He killed Charles and Cyndi Cox in front of their 10-year-old grandson and even held the gun to the child’s head before letting him go. The boy fled to a neighbor’s house after witnessing the shootings, and the neighbor made a 911 call to report what had happened.

When officers from the Maiden Police Department and emergency personnel from Maiden Rescue Squad arrived at the McRee Road residence, they found a trail of blood leading up a set of stairs along with shell casings, a firearm magazine and numerous bullet holes. They located the body of Charles Cox at the top of the stairs, and Cyndi Cox’s body was found in the nearby dining room, both with multiple gunshot wounds, including gunshots to the head.

A search outside the residence revealed the body of Jenna Cox, the 10-year-old boy’s mother, inside the fencing around a swimming pool. She, too, had multiple gunshot wounds, including a gunshot to the head. While officers were responding at the scene, a 911 call was received from Christenbury, who had driven away from the crime scene into nearby Lincoln County. During the call he acknowledged the shooting and that he wanted to surrender to authorities.

The defendant was taken into custody by Lincoln County officers with Catawba County deputies present at the scene. A firearm was found in the front passenger seat of the defendant’s vehicle.

During a custodial interview with Maiden Police Department investigators, the defendant waived his rights to counsel and told them that he left work that day, drove to the residence, and shot and killed all three victims.

The defendant’s parents later told investigators that Cox had broken off the relationship with Christenbury the previous day and revealed that a location application on his phone showed him near the scene at the time of the shooting. Several family members made statements regarding the act, including the 10-year-old boy, who quietly addressed the court about what the defendant had taken away from him by killing his mother and grandparents.

Josh Stikeleather and Jaleel Smith handled the investigation for Maiden Police Department. The Catawba County Sheriff’s Office provided assistance, along with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Children’s Advocacy and Protection Center of Catawba County (CAPC)

Story: Rob Eastwook-WHKY