Ennis Cosby
Ennis William Cosby (
1970 â€"
January 16,
1997) was the son of actor
Bill Cosby and Camille Hanks. He had four sisters.
Ennis aspired to become a
special education teacher after he overcame
dyslexia. A student at
Teachers College, Columbia University, Ennis was murdered by a
Ukrainian immigrant named Mikail Markhasev on
January 16,
1997 at the age of 27 in
Los Angeles,
California. Ennis was on his way to visit a friend when his
Mercedes got a flat tire. Ennis then pulled his car to the side of
Interstate 405 to change the tire, where he was confronted by Markhasev. According to
prosecutors, Markhasev demanded money from Cosby, and then shot him in the head and fled the scene. While the prosecutors stated that the case was very circumstantial, and that the verdict could have gone either way, Markhasev did confess after his conviction, because, in his own words, "{he} wanted to do the right thing … More than anything, {he} wanted to apologize to the victim's family". Markhasev is currently serving a life sentence in
San Quentin State Prison without the possibility of parole.
In
2000,
Bill Cosby started a scholarship in Ennis' name at
Franklin and Marshall College in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
*Several events in the life of Ennis Cosby were (intentionally) mirrored by the events in the life of his father's fictional son from
The Cosby Show, Theo Huxtable (portrayed by
Malcolm-Jamal Warner). Both Ennis and Theo had four sisters (two older, two younger). Both had academic problems in middle school and high school. Both were diagnosed as dyslexics and excelled academically in college. And both sought master's degrees in education from elite colleges in
New York City (Ennis at
Columbia University, Theo at
New York University).
*Similarly, the character Griffin Vesey (portrayed by
Doug E. Doug) from
Cosby was a surrogate son to Bill Cosby's character on that series. Griffin eventually became a teacher, as Ennis aspired to do.
In many ways, Theo Huxtable and Griffin Vesey were intended to be reflections of Ennis Cosby.
*In one of his early standup routines (later released in theaters as
Raw),
Eddie Murphy mentioned Ennis Cosby as part of a sketch involving his father; Ennis was said to be a fan of Murphy's.
*
Hello Friend/Ennis William Cosby Foundation*
Convicted Killer of Ennis Cosby Confesses
