Man convicted, sentenced in daughter's death

GALVESTON, Texas (FOX 26) - A jury has found James Larry Cosby guilty of capital murder and he will automatically be sentenced to life in prison. A registered sex offender and former convict, Cosby was released from prison in October 2013 and initially charged with two counts of tampering with evidence in the death of his daughter and her girlfriend in March 2014.

The bodies of Houston residents Britney Cosby, 24, and Crystal Jackson, 24, were found behind a convenience store on State Highway 87 near 7th Street on Bolivar Peninsula at around 7:45 a.m. on March 7, 2014. The initial investigation indicated that their bodies were disposed of on the peninsula but the women were killed elsewhere.

"Me, my wife, and my church family are praying for life without possibility of parole," said Reverend Ivan Jackson, father of slain Crystal Jackson, "because killing him is not going to bring either one of them back."

The Galveston County Medical Examiner's Office determined that Britney Cosby died as a result of blunt force trauma while Jackson died from a gunshot wound.

Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said in 2014 that blood and other evidence were found in James Larry Cosby's home in Houston.

In an exclusive interview with FOX 26 outside the courthouse Wednesday afternoon, Reverend Jackson said he has found some peace already, explaining "there's one verse in the Bible that helped me forgive this man, and it says 'absent from the body, present with the Lord' and I know my daughter and Britney are present with God."

James Cosby was convicted in 1994 in the sexual assault of a 22-year-old woman, according to court records.

Brittney Cosby and Crystal Jackson were both buried Houston Memorial Gardens in Pearland.

Crystal Jackson was a mother, and her father says he has obtained full custody of his granddaughter.

Reverend Jackson said, "it's been really tough, but on the same token it has made me much stronger because I have a responsibility now, and that's to raise my grand baby."