Last week the bodies of a lesbian couple had been found outside a dumpster in Port Bolivar, Texas. The couple, Britney Cosby and Crystal Jackson, both 24, had reportedly traveled to the area for Mardi Gras.
After further police investigations, Britney Cosby’s father, James Larry Cosby, has been arrested on two charges of tampering with evidence in relation to the deaths.
James Cosby had spoken to Houston media outlet KTRK about the death of his daughter and her girlfriend, saying ‘ You can’t really put something like this into words.’ He was also reportedly present at the candlelight vigil in his daughter’s memory.
The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office told KTRK that the alleged murders of the two women appeared to have taken place in James Cosby’s home. According to reports, Crystal Jackson died from a single gunshot wound to the head and Britney Cosby died from blunt trauma to the head, but also sustained a broken neck.
Britney’s mother Loranda (McDonald or Remer, according to different news outlets) has told television station KHOU-TV that James Cosby “did not like the idea of [Britney] being gay.But, like I told him, there’s nothing we could do about that. That’s who she is. We can’t change her lifestyle.” Loranda reportedly left James Cosby because of his violent tendencies, and said “I think they should lock him up, don’t let him out. Give him the chair. I want him to suffer.” She also told The Houston Chronicle that he had told his daughter not to “throw that gay shit around in this house.”
Annie Cosby, Britney Cosby’s great-grandmother, lived with the couple who were reportedly raising Crystal Jackson’s five year old daughter together, as well as James Cosby, who moved in to the home after his release from prison in October 2013. Annie Cosby has come to her grandson’s defense, saying “I never saw them having a misunderstanding or anything like that.”
James Cosby was convicted of sexual assault against a 22 year old woman in 1994, and served additional terms for charges including unlawfully carrying a weapon, assault, and drug charges. His most recent sentence was served for two years due to failure to register as a sex offender, and ended in October 2013.
Police have referred to James Cosby’s home as a ‘secondary crime scene’ and reportedly found a number of items suspected to be connected to the deaths on the premises. According to court documents, these included ‘large areas of blood’ in James Cosby’s bedroom, and the house had a window shutter missing, which appeared to match a shutter found covered in blood at the site where the bodies were left. James Cosby reportedly claimed that the shutter had been missing from the house before he moved in, but was unable to provide an answer when police asked him why his thumb print was found on the shutter.
Police are reportedly waiting for the results of tests taken on objects taken from his home to determine whether or not there will be a murder charge. The police are still looking for the man seen on surveillance footage dumping the bodies next to a dumpster outside of a food mart. The couple’s 2006 Kia Sorrento is also still missing, although it was seen on surveillance footage traveling in both directions on the Bolivar ferry on the night of the murder, suggesting that the vehicle may have been used to transport the bodies.
Sophie Joske
