Ennis Cosby - Aftermath

Aftermath

After Cosby's death, America's Most Wanted and The National Enquirer offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the killer's arrest. A witness, Chris So, phoned The Enquirer, giving Markhasev's name and telling them that he had bragged the night of the killing that before work he'd shot a black man and that it was on the news. So's information eventually lead police to a wood area where the Taurus .38 revolver Markhasev used in the shooting found, along with a cap with hair that contained Markhasev's DNA.

Markhasev, who was born to a single mother in Lviv, had come to the U.S. in 1989 with his mother. Markhasev lived with his mother in West Hollywood and attended a program for gifted children at John Burroughs, Jr. High School. While living in West Hollywood, teacher described him as a well liked and well behaved student. However, in 1992, Markhasev and his mother moved to Los Alamitos, California. Markhasev's behavior changed and he began hanging out with a local gang, and exhibiting racism. In October 1995, Markhasev and his fellow gang members attacked two African American men with a knife at a Los Alamitos gas station. He was charged and convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and served six months at a juvenile correctional facility. According to a friend of Markhasev's, his time in the facility "changed" him and he seemed more combative and angry upon his release.