Friends paint different picture of Kevin Cox, suspect in the murder of Brooklyn-born Marine

By NANCY DILLON and CORKY SIEMASZKO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Updated Monday, November 10th 2008, 4:46 PM

Kevin Cox (front left) and Tryone Miller (back right) at hearing into murder of Sgt. Jan Pawel Pietrzak and his wife, Quiana.

One of the four Marines accused of brutally murdering their Brooklyn-raised sergeant and wife was described Monday by friends as "sweet" and "caring."

They also described 20-year-old Pvt. Kevin Cox as a follower who was "very easily influenced."

"I couldn't see him doing anything like this on his own," said Maurice McDavid, 20, a college football player who grew up with Cox in DeKalb, Ill. "In high school, they put him in classes with me to make sure he was staying out of trouble."

RELATED: DA: NOBODY DESERVES DEATH LIKE THIS

Jamaine Armbruster, 19, a student at Cal State University in Northridge, Calif., said she dated Cox last year and was stunned when he was implicated in the murders of Sgt. Jan Pawel Pietrzak and his wife, Quiana.

"I'm totally shocked to find out Kevin had anything to do with something like this," she said. "He was a sweet guy and very caring."

Cox, who last lived in Tennessee, and three other Marines based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., were charged last week with breaking into the Pietrzak home on Oct. 15. They allegedly executed the newlyweds after torturing them and raping the bride repeatedly.

Investigators say the motive was robbery, but the victims' families don't believe it.

RELATED: CONFESSION IN MURDER, TORTURE OF MARINE

Pietrzak, 24, who was born in Poland and raised in Bensonhurst, and his 26-year-old wife, had been married for just two months when they were murdered.

Pvt. Emrys John, 18, was identified as the triggerman who killed the couple by shooting them in the back of their heads. "Chillin waitin 4 da killin," was the caption under a photo he posted on his MySpace web site.

Lance Cpl. Tyrone Miller, 20, told investiagtors he bound and gagged the couple and then debated with John whether to kill them. Cops are checking whether Miller has ties to the violent Crips street gang.

Pvt. Kesuan Sykes, 21, is nicknamed "Psycho" and admitted that he "cut" off Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak's clothes, the court papers state.

All of the suspects say that Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak was sexually assaulted, but each says it was the other three who did it, according to court records.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/11/10/2008-11-10_friends_paint_different_picture_of_kevin.html