Father Arrested in Connection With Murder of Lesbian Daughter & Partner

Police in Galveston, Texas, arrested the father of a lesbian daughter Thursday in connection to her murder and of the murder of her partner, the Houston Chronicle reports.

Earlier this month it was reported that Crystal Jackson and her partner of two years, Britney Cosby, both 24 and from Houston, went to Galveston, Texas, to celebrate Mardi Gras but were found dead near a dumpster.

Galveston County Sheriff's Office was called out to the scene after a beer salesman discovered the bodies of the two African-American women.

"He went outside the building to throw away the boxes. When he did he found the bodies; he thought they were mannequins at first," Brett Brannen, another beer salesman told local media.

According to Galveston County Sheriff's Office, Britney Cosby's father, James Larry Cosby, 46, has been charged with two counts of tampering with evidence in connection to the death of his daughter and her partner.

The Houston Chronicle writes:

"Officials with a search warrant retrieved carpet, upholstery and cleaning supplies from inside the home, but one item was laid out for all to see on Thursday afternoon: A red-stained area rug folded up in the driveway."

The newspaper also reports that the authorities' investigation led them to James Larry Cosby's home, where he lives with his daughter and her 90-year-old grandmother.

According to local news station KHOU, Britney Cosby's mother Loranda McDonald, said that James Larry Cosby had problems dealing with his daughter's sexuality.

"He said it to me a few times that he did not like the idea of her being gay," she said.

But Annie Cosby, Britney Cosby's grandmother, said that she had a good relationship with her father.

"I never saw them having a misunderstanding or anything like that," she told the Houston Chronicle. She also said that her son didn't have a problem with her Britney Cosby's sexuality.

"She took good care of me," Annie Cosby, who uses a wheelchair, added. "She paid my bills, would do my grocery shopping, cooking -- all of that. I don't know what I'm going to do now."

KHOU reports that authorities questioned James Larry Cosby after a candlelight vigil held for the victims and that their suspicions grew soon after.

"Anytime you have a crime like this you want to talk to the family, co-workers, friends to gain any information you can and, during that interview, pretty much it became an investigation," Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset told the station. "When we went to the residence to talk to him, some of the things we saw there, it increased and went further. We got a search warrant for the residence and our crime scene investigators were there last night, and after the event at the park, we drove him down to talk to us at the Sheriff's Office."

According to the Houston Chronicle, James Larry Cosby said during the vigil that he would miss his daughter's "smile, her bubbliness, her spontaneity."

"She was like my twin," he added. "She looked like me. She acted like me. Her features were like mine. Her hands were like mine," he said. "Everything about her was just like me. When she was born, my mama said, 'Boy, it looked like you had that child.'?"

Evidence suggests that the women were killed at home before their bodies were dumped.

"The first crime scene we determined was where they were found by the dumpsters," Trochesset told KHOU. "This is another crime scene where blood and other evidence from the crime that occurred was at his residence. That might be the area where they may have been murdered."

The Houston Chronicle reports that an affidavit says a window shutter was missing from the Cosby home and that a shutter, stained with blood, matching the others on the house was found where the bodies were dumped. Additionally, an investigator found a fingerprint that matches James Larry Cosby's fingerprint on a paper affixed to the shutter.

Police say Britney Cosby died from a blunt force trauma and Jackson, who reportedly had a five-year-old daughter, was shot to death.

Trochesset says James Larry Cosby has a criminal history and that he believes he is a registered sex offender.

Police say James Larry Cosby is not currently cooperating but they do not have a motive. He is currently being held at Galveston County Jail on a $500,000 bail.