Anytime one of our LGBT brothers or sisters has their life taken from them in a hate crime, it is a profound loss to our community. When the suspect in that crime is the person's own father, it becomes particularly unbearable. The Houston Chronicle is reporting that James Larry Cosby, father of murder victim Britney Cosby, has been arrested with a potential charge of her murder along with the murder of her girlfriend, Crystal Jackson.
James Larry Cosby, 46, of Houston, is charged with two counts of tampering with evidence in the deaths of his daughter, Britney Cosby, and Crystal Jackson, according to the Galveston County Sheriff's Office. Both women were 24.
Deputies said Cosby is in the Galveston County jail in lieu of $500,000 bail. Charges against him, deputies added, may be upgraded to capital murder as the investigation continues.
Cosby was arrested early Thursday morning after investigators interviewed him following a vigil in Houston for the slain women, said Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset.
Last Friday, the bodies of Cosby and Jackson
were discovered next to a dumpster behind a store in Port Bolivar, Texas. Crystal Jackson had been killed by gunshot and Cosby's daughter, Britney died from blunt force trauma to the head. Evidence linking James Cosby to the crime was found in the home Britney shared with her father and great-grandmother.
James Cosby had attended a vigil held for his daughter and her girlfriend last night. In an interview conducted with him after the vigil ended, Cosby was quoted as saying "I'm not going to be the same. I'm not going to be OK. I've got a mother over there, an aunt over there crying." When the interviewer asked him what he would miss most about his daughter, he responded "Her smile, her bubbliness, her spontaneity." Although he gave all the appearances of a grieving father, Britney's mother, Leranda Remer was quoted as having said the James Cosby had a difficult time accepting Britney and Crystal's relationship.
It is tragic enough when your family disowns you over who you are and who you love, kicking you from their lives and home. As heartbreaking as it is, at least you are able to walk away to put the pieces back together and build your future. But to have a parent take away their own child's life along with the person they love is an unspeakable act of hatred. Should James Larry Cosby be found guilty of these murders, he should never see life beyond the four corners of a gray prison cell again.
Via Joe.My.God
