Britney Cosby and Crystal Jackson: Murder, Motive, and Appeal

Britney Cosby and Crystal Jackson, a young couple from Houston, were killed on March 6, 2014, and their bodies were dumped behind a convenience store on the Bolivar Peninsula. Britney’s father, James Larry Cosby, was convicted of capital murder in August 2016 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Investigators looked at the killings as a possible anti-LGBTQ hate crime, but no motive was ever established at trial.

What Happened in March 2014

On the morning of March 7, 2014, a beer deliveryman pulled up to the Fisherman’s Cove convenience store on State Highway 87 near 7th Street in Port Bolivar, Texas. Between a dumpster and an abandoned building behind the store, he found the bodies of Britney Cosby and Crystal Jackson, both 24.¹

The Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Britney died from blunt force trauma and Crystal died from a gunshot wound.² A later autopsy report specified that Britney had suffered head blows and a broken neck, and that Crystal had been killed by a single gunshot wound to the head.³ Investigators concluded that the women had been killed elsewhere and their bodies transported to the peninsula, likely on the Galveston-Bolivar ferry.⁴ Britney’s silver 2006 Kia Sorento was missing, and authorities released a composite sketch of a man seen driving it.⁵

The Couple

Britney and Crystal had been together for about two years and were raising Crystal’s five-year-old daughter. They lived in a house on Howcher Street in south Houston along with members of Britney’s family. Among them was her father, James Larry Cosby, who had recently been released from prison and was sleeping in a converted living room.⁶

How Suspicion Turned to Britney’s Father

Within days, investigators zeroed in on the shared Houston home. Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset reported that blood and evidence of a violent struggle were found inside, including blood on walls, speakers, and a sofa.⁴ A criminal complaint stated that James Larry Cosby had seen his daughter’s body on March 6 and did not report it.³

Cosby was arrested in mid-March 2014, initially on two counts of tampering with evidence, and held on $500,000 bond.¹ Sheriff Trochesset said Cosby was not cooperating and signaled that charges could be upgraded. On the night of March 12, before he was taken into custody, Cosby had attended a public vigil for the victims at a local funeral home and spoken to the crowd.⁶

Cosby was a registered sex offender with a long record. In 1994 he was convicted of sexually assaulting a 22-year-old woman and served ten years in prison. After his 2004 release he picked up convictions for unlawfully carrying a weapon, drug offenses, and assault. He was sent back to prison in 2012 for failing to register as a sex offender and was released in October 2013, months before the murders.⁶

The Evidence Against Cosby

The prosecution’s case was circumstantial, built from physical, digital, and witness pieces. A blood-stained decorative window shutter from the Cosby home was found near the bodies on the Bolivar Peninsula. A fingerprint on paper affixed to the shutter matched James Larry Cosby. Lead investigator Detective Danny Kitchens testified that Cosby had initially been treated as a grieving father, but once the fingerprint came back, “everything we had led back to Mr. Cosby.”⁷

Cell phone records placed Cosby’s phone traveling from Houston to Port Bolivar and back on March 6, the day of the killings. Prosecutors had identified his number through 911 call data and tracked it against cell tower records.⁸ Two witnesses identified Cosby as being on the Galveston-Bolivar ferry that day, and ferry surveillance video showed them speaking with a man in a Kia Sorento matching the victims’ vehicle.⁷

Other forensic evidence tied the crime to the Cosby household. A bullet fragment pulled from the Kia Sorento contained hair that prosecutors identified as Crystal Jackson’s. A bloody bedsheet covering Jackson’s head matched a set from the Cosby home. DNA from a cigarette butt found in the SUV was linked to James Cosby and his girlfriend.⁹

The Kia itself surfaced in April 2014 at a vehicle storage lot in Houston, towed there from the parking lot of the Ritz Cabaret on the Gulf Freeway at the club’s request. Prosecutors alleged Cosby drove the SUV to the club after disposing of the bodies and was picked up by his girlfriend.¹⁰

The Question of Motive

No motive was ever proven in court, though the case was investigated as a possible hate crime. Britney’s mother, Loranda, told KHOU-TV that Cosby “did not like the idea of her being gay” and had told his daughter, “Don’t throw that gay shit around in this house.”³ Family members told ABC13 that Cosby “would often ridicule her for dating women.”¹¹

Captain Barry Cook of the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office was careful in public statements, saying, “We don’t know what the motive was. It could have been an argument over anything.”⁶ Cosby told investigators he did not approve of his daughter’s relationship but claimed he “was learning to accept it.” Not everyone in the family agreed with the homophobia account. Britney’s great-grandmother, Annie Cosby, said the father and daughter had a good relationship and that he had no issue with her orientation.

Trial and Sentence

Cosby’s capital murder trial began on August 2, 2016, in the 212th District Court of Galveston County before Judge Patricia Grady.¹² Assistant District Attorney Paul Love led the prosecution, arguing that Cosby beat his daughter to death inside their shared Houston home and shot Crystal Jackson before transporting both bodies to the Bolivar Peninsula.⁸ Lead prosecutor Bill Reed described the case as “many, many moving parts” of circumstantial evidence.⁷

Defense attorneys Greg Russell and Kyle Verret pushed back on each piece. Russell told the jury, “There is no direct evidence linking Mr. Cosby to the murder of Brittany and Crystal,” and challenged the reliability of the ferry witnesses, who had been initially uncertain in their identifications.⁸ The defense also pointed to DNA from an unidentified person mixed with blood at the Houston residence, noted that no murder weapon was ever recovered, and argued that the state could not prove where Crystal Jackson was killed.⁷

After seven days of testimony, the jury deliberated for three hours. On August 10, 2016, they convicted Cosby of capital murder.⁷ Prosecutors had not sought the death penalty, so the conviction carried an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.¹¹ Asked about the missing motive, Paul Love said, “The evil that men do has no explanation or justification.”

Appeal

Cosby appealed to the Texas First Court of Appeals on two issues. He argued that a pretrial photo array shown to ferry witness Robert Ingram was impermissibly suggestive; the court disagreed, finding the participants sufficiently similar in appearance. He also challenged venue, since the state had argued the killings occurred in Houston, not Galveston County. The appellate court held that because the bodies were found in Galveston County, prosecution there was authorized under Article 13.07 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. On December 21, 2017, the court affirmed the judgment in full.¹³

Community Response

The killings drew a strong response from LGBTQ organizations across Texas. GetEQUAL TX organized vigils in Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, and Corpus Christi on March 19, 2014, asking attendees to wear yellow in memory of the victims. Tiffani Bishop, a co-state lead organizer, said, “It is beyond time that our community begin an open and honest dialogue about violence against queer women of color.”¹⁴ Advocates connected the case to the 2012 shooting of Mollie Olgin and Mary Chapa in Portland, Texas.¹⁵ The Southern Poverty Law Center covered the case through its Hatewatch project, reporting that the slayings were being investigated as a possible hate crime, though investigators never definitively classified them as one.⁶ James Larry Cosby remains in Texas state prison serving his life sentence.

1
CBS News. Dad of Slain Houston Woman Charged With Tampering
2
Beaumont Enterprise. Medical Examiner Releases Cause of Death
3
Autostraddle. Mother Says Britney Cosby’s Father Didn’t Approve of Slain Lesbian Couple’s Lifestyle
4
Fox 26 Houston. Man Convicted, Sentenced in Daughter’s Death
5
Houston Chronicle. Family Prays Where Bolivar Bodies Were Found
6
Southern Poverty Law Center. Father Arrested in Murder of Lesbian Daughter and Partner
7
Houston Chronicle. Jury Weighs Whether Man Killed Grown Daughter
8
Houston Chronicle. Prosecutors: Blood, Cell Phone Records Link Man to Deaths
9
Houston Chronicle. Prosecutors: Blood, Cell Phone Records Link Man to Deaths
10
Houston Chronicle. Missing Car Connected to Double Murder Found in Houston
11
ABC13. Man Found Guilty in Death of His Daughter and Her Girlfriend
12
SFGate. Trial Begins for Man Accused in Death of Daughter, Her Girlfriend
13
Justia. James Larry Cosby, Jr. v. The State of Texas, No. 01-16-00696-CR
14
Dallas Voice. Vigils Planned for Texas Murdered Lesbian Couple
15
OutSmart Magazine. Texas-Wide Vigils Will Honor Murdered Lesbian Couple