Wife of man accused of shooting kids with airsoft gun faces own abuse charges

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — The wife of a Hyrum man charged with shooting his stepchildren with an airsoft gun now faces charges herself after police say she made some disturbing statements to her incarcerated husband.

Ciena Lynn Heywood, 25, was charged Thursday in Cache County’s 1st District Court with child abuse, a second-degree felony; and child abuse, a class A misdemeanor.

Her husband, Joshua Glen Cox, 43, was charged with the same crimes on Feb. 27. Cox was arrested and accused of shooting Heywood’s young son and daughter with an airsoft gun, including in the head.

The woman told police it was “very common” for her children to have marks and bruises from her husband hitting them, and said he “hits them in the head with his knuckles as well as punches them,” a police affidavit states.

After Cox was booked into the Cache County Jail, investigators monitored disturbing comments made by Heywood while talking to Cox during a jailhouse phone call, according to a new police affidavit,

“During the course of this phone call, Ciena made several alarming statements in regards to the children,” the affidavit states, including that she regretted being a mother and wanted her husband back and not the children.

Cox then seems to ask how they got into the situation they were in, stating that “he was obviously drunk” when he shot the children and didn’t remember what happened, police wrote.

“She stated that the school has been asking about the marks and the bruises” and she “kept covering for that,” the affidavit states. When Cox asked Heywood why she didn’t tell him about this, she said she didn’t want him to get angry.

He then asked why she filed for a protective order the day after he was arrested.

“Ciena stated that she was either going to go to jail or file it. Ciena stated that she was trying to ease everyone’s mind, to shut them up and walk away. She stated that they questioned her about this and that they could tell that she was lying,” the affidavit states.

When investigators had Heywood come to the sheriff’s office for questioning on Monday, she said abuse had been ongoing since the start of her relationship with Cox.

“She stated that it has been ongoing for three to four years. She stated that alcohol plays a part in this. She stated that Josh had shot the children over 20 different times with the airsoft gun. I asked Ciena why she did not report this and stop this from happening. She stated that she was scared. I informed Ciena that she has an obligation to her children to protect them and to keep them safe. Ciena stated that she knew this and that she did not do that,” according to the affidavit.

Cox was then arrested and booked into the Cache County Jail.

Also during the Feb. 29 jail phone call, Cox talked to Heywood about an upcoming court hearing on March 13 regarding the protective order. “He stated that ‘you could drop it, say you were coerced into saying what you said, or whatever,’” according to a police affidavit.

For that, Cox was charged Thursday in 1st District Court with an additional count of witness tampering, a third-degree felony.

Those who experience domestic violence can call police dispatch at 801-799-3000; the 24-hour victim advocate hotline at 801-580-7969; the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 800-799-7233; or the Utah LINKLine at 800-897-5465.