Melissa Fox echoes her husband's claims over the weekend that police threatened and intimidated him into making what amounted to a confession. The family's attorney plans to file a civil rights lawsuit against the officers who interrogated him. Meantime Melissa is doing all she can to support her husband.
She has endured the worst nightmare a parent can go through -- the murder of her three-year-old daughter. But now Melissa Fox is trying to deal with the fact that police believe her husband, the baby's father, is the one who killed her. Melissa says she has no doubt Kevin Fox is not the one who killed little Riley Fox in June.
"He was not lying to me for five months. He didn't hide this from me for five months," said Melissa.
Will County authorities last week filed murder charges against Kevin Fox, setting bond at $25 million and announcing their intention to seek the death penalty. The coroner's report showed the little girl had been sexually assaulted, her mouth duct taped and she was alive before being dumped in the river.
While Kevin Fox remains in the Will County Jail, his family is trying to encourage him during a call on speaker phone. And his attorney believes police intimidated him into making an incriminating statement on video.
"We are planning tomorrow to file a civil rights suit against the interrogators of Kevin Fox," said Kathleen Zellner, Fox's attorney.
His family says Kevin had always been a model father to Riley and her older brother. Melissa was in the station the night police arrested him.
"From day one, they never looked at anyone else. This is who they assumed did it because the numbers normally show that this is what happens, but this time they picked the wrong family to pin that on," said Melissa.
So now the family is using money donated to her memorial fund to find the person they believe is Riley's real killer. They are also hopeful the newly elected state's attorney in Will County, Jim Glasgow, will take a fresh look at the case. The charges were filed a week before the election by embattled states attorney Jeff Tomczak. Meantime, Melissa who has known Kevin since they were high school sweethearts eleven years ago hopes to convince everyone else of what she believes.
"He didn't do it," said Melissa.
The Will County sheriff during an interview over the weekend said neither Kevin nor Melissa Fox raised any concerns during the police questioning. Meantime, Fox's attorney has hired an investigator to look at the case.
