Ennis Cosby was more than a celebrity's child. Born April 15, 1969, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, he was the only son among five children of comedian Bill Cosby and his wife Camille. Growing up between Southern California, Pennsylvania, and New York, Ennis struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia that caused friction with his highly educated parents. That struggle became the inspiration for Theo Huxtable, Bill Cosby's beloved television son on The Cosby Show, whose storylines about learning difficulties mirrored Ennis's own journey. When Ennis was finally diagnosed at Morehouse College, he underwent intensive training at Landmark College in Vermont, returning to raise his GPA from 2.3 to over 3.5 and make the dean's list. He was pursuing a doctorate in special education at Columbia when he was killed, planning to dedicate his life to helping students with learning disabilities.

Stephanie Crane parked behind Ennis's Mercedes, her headlights illuminating the scene as he changed the tire. Then a man appeared at her window. 'Open the door or I'll hurt you,' he demanded. Terrified, Crane drove away. She heard a gunshot and immediately returned to find Ennis lying in a pool of blood beside his car, the assailant fleeing into the darkness. The killer was 18-year-old Mikhail Markhasev, born in Lviv, Ukraine, who had emigrated to the United States in 1989. He shot Ennis because, as he later admitted, his victim was 'taking too long' to hand over money. The randomness of the violence stunned a nation accustomed to seeing Bill Cosby as America's father figure.

The investigation became a study in how celebrity crime cases unfold in Los Angeles. CNN broadcast aerial footage of Ennis's body from a KTLA helicopter, prompting outraged viewer complaints. The National Enquirer offered a $100,000 reward that ultimately cracked the case when an acquaintance of Markhasev came forward. The California Lieutenant Governor's offer of $50,000 in taxpayer funds drew sharp criticism from victim advocacy groups who asked why ordinary murder victims never received such attention. Markhasev was arrested in March 1997, convicted of first-degree murder in July 1998, and sentenced to life in prison. Within 36 hours of Ennis's death, the flood of calls asking how to honor his memory prompted the family to establish the Ennis William Cosby Foundation.

For four years, Markhasev maintained his innocence. Then in February 2001, from California State Prison in Corcoran, he sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Kyle Brodie asking that all appeals stop. 'I am guilty, and I want to do the right thing,' he wrote. 'More than anything, I want to apologize to the victim's family. It is my duty as a Christian, and it's the least I can do, after the great wickedness for which I am responsible.' Ennis was buried on January 19, 1997, in Shelburne, Massachusetts, after a private funeral at the family estate. The stretch of freeway where he died remains an ordinary off-ramp, unmarked and unremarkable, but the randomness of that night serves as a lasting reminder of how quickly lives can be shattered on the roadsides of a sprawling city.