We in the LGBT community are left saddened, speechless and shaking our heads over a shocking double murder that occurred last week in Texas.
The bodies of two Houston women, Britney Cosby and Crystal Jackson, both 24, were found Friday morning outside a Port Bolivar convenience store. The women had been a couple for two years and were raising Jackson’s five-year old daughter. They had traveled to the area from Houston to enjoy Mardi Gras.
Galveston County officials said Monday that their deaths have been officially ruled as homicides
According to the Galveston Daily News, autopsies on the bodies of the two women revealed that they were killed by different methods. Medical examiners determined that Cosby died of blunt force trauma, while her partner Jackson was shot to death. At this time, authorities are waiting for additional results from the autopsies.
Detectives investigating this horrific crime think that the women were killed elsewhere, likely Thursday night or early Friday morning, and that their bodies were driven to Port Bolivar, where they were discarded near a garbage dumpster.
Investigators have not yet determined a motive in the murders, and it’s still not clear whether their relationship or sexual orientation was a factor. Neither Jackson nor Cosby appeared to have been sexually assaulted or tortured before their murders.
Late Sunday, the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office released a sketch of a possible suspect in connection with the killings. The “person of interest” is a black man in his late 20s or early 30s, around 6 feet tall with an average build, a light mustache and a soul-patch or small goatee.
Sheriff Henry Trochesset said that the man was last seen with Jackson and Cosby in their car, a recently purchased 2006 Kia Sorento with grey trim and temporary paper plates.
Witnesses or anyone with information about the case are urged to contact the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office toll-free tip line at (866) 248-8477.
