"We interviewed Lisa and asked a lot of questions," Cox recalls, smiling at the memory. "We got such a great feeling from her and her family, and it was the right feeling. We put our kids' lives in her hands day after day, for years, and I can honestly say she was a like an angel to them."
He says he and his wife were floored in 2007 when they learned of her arrest for murdering and abusing an infant.
courtesy of the Randall Family
Lisa Randall feeds one of her seven grandchildren.
Lisa Randall's mug shot after her November 2007 arrest.
"There's absolutely no way that happened," Cox says. "I know, you never know. But I do know. This woman doesn't have a mean bone in her body, and she lives to help and love children."
The Coxes reached out to the Randall family after the arrest, offering Lisa a part-time job after she was released on bond.
"I need someone to help me out when my wife is working and my kids are at school or somewhere, and Lisa is perfect," Cox says.
"You know, we're alike, her and I. We both have had our freedom taken from us in the most unexpected ways, and it hurts."
Randall's son Jared says life as she knew it won't ever be the same.
"When the day comes," he says, "and my mom walks out of that courtroom for the last time, her life is still a mess, and she's still an accused baby killer.
"Get this straight. I feel for Dillon's parents. I really do. I am a parent myself, and I know what loving your kids is about. And I know that people do abuse children. But my mom didn't do anything to that baby, and they can't prove she did."