Ennis Cosby - Robbery and Murder

Robbery and Murder

On the evening of January 16, 1997, Cosby was on his way to visit his friend Stephanie Crane while on break from school when his Mercedes-Benz got a flat tire along Interstate 405 in Los Angeles. He pulled his dark-green Mercedes SL600 convertible near the Bel Air freeway off-ramp on Skirball Center Drive and phoned Crane, explaining what had happened. Crane drove out to meet Cosby and focused the lights of her vehicle on the Mercedes's flat tire to illuminate it.

As Cosby was changing the tire, Mikhail Markhasev, an 18-year old Ukrainian immigrant (who worked at a nearby restaurant, had a previous criminal record, and who happened to be nearby using a pay phone at a commuter lot) approached the driver-side window of Crane's vehicle and pulled out a .38 caliber handgun. Crane initially sped away 20–50 feet down the street but then turned around to retrieve Cosby. By the time Crane got back to Cosby's vehicle, he had been shot in the head. Crane saw Markhasev running away down the street but was unable to physically identify him.

Ennis Cosby's funeral was held on January 19, 1997 at the Cosby estate in Shelburne, Massachusetts, where he was interred.