[UAH] Trayvon Martin’s Death Is Like Ennis Cosby’s - The Daily Beast
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11:09 AM |
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Trayvon Martin's parents weren't in the Sanford courtroom last night to hear the verdict that they more than likely always saw coming. Not guilty. The trial for the man who'd killed their 17-year-old son, George Zimmerman was held in the very city that decided he didn't warrant being arrested in the first place after shooting an unarmed high school student. The Martin family knew the cards were heavily stacked against them.
Still, throughout the trial I was struck by how stoic and steadfast Tracy and Sybina—the parents of Trayvon—appeared as they sat listening to testimony that basically accused their dead son of causing of his own murder.
As I watched the unbelievable turn of events in court unfold, my thoughts often turned to another set of parents who'd faced the same tragic set of circumstances, but with a very different ending.
Bill and Camille Cosby's 27-year-old son Ennis was shot and killed just off a California freeway in the early morning hours of January 16, 1997. A few weeks later, I was able to sit down with Mr. Cosby and it appeared that the man who had made us laugh for decades was dealing with his loss with an amazing amount of strength and grace. He sensed my hesitation to ask about Ennis so he began to talk about his son without my prompting. He said that the person who'd murdered Ennis "was now riding with the devil.'' That person had yet to be arrested.
Five years later, I would sit down with Mr. Cosby again in his New York City brownstone, a breathtakingly beautiful home heavily accented throughout with loving memories of his only son. The man who greeted me that day was quite different from the one I'd met in the weeks after Ennis' death. Nineteen-year-old Mikhail Markhasev had been convicted for the first-degree murder of Ennis and sentenced to life in prison plus ten years without parole. The Cosby family had requested that the death penalty not be considered. Still, the toll of the murder trial and the gravity of his lost were now very apparent on the comic's face.
We spoke about a variety of issues as we walked through his home's many floors and rooms, decorated with Cosby's incredible collection of African-Art and oil paintings of non-black subjects drawn by black slaves during the 1800s. By far the most impressive piece of art was the bronze bust of Ennis that sat just inside the foyer of the home. Cosby referenced the bust several times that day, even lovingly speaking to it after a friend of his son's called to say he passed his bar exam.
As we wrapped up our interview, Mr. Cosby paused and took a seat on the steps of his winding staircase. He wanted to share one last important thought. He said that he'd traveled from New York to California regularly so that he could be in the courtroom as often as possible during the trial of his son's murderer. He said he knew he had to be there for the jurors to really see him. He knew he had to be there "because someone had to pay for the death of his son.''
That day Cosby let me know that he understood full well the tremendous advantage that his fame and fortune afforded him. He was powerful. He knew he wasn't the average African-Ame
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