Bill Cosby’s Son Slain in Apparent Robbery

Police launched an intensive search Thursday for the killer who gunned down the only son of entertainer Bill Cosby, as the pain of the apparently random tragedy resonated across a nation that has embraced Cosby as its preeminent family man.

Authorities said they believe that Ennis William Cosby--a 27-year-old graduate student who had been the inspiration for some of his father’s most touching work--had stopped early Thursday to fix a flat tire on his green Mercedes convertible when he was set upon on a secluded stretch of road above Bel-Air.

Cosby was found on Skirball Center Drive, near the top of the Sepulveda Pass, at about 1:45 a.m. by a woman who told authorities she saw a man leaving the area. Police released only the suspect’s race, describing him as a “white male,” but said they hoped the witness’ description would lead to a composite drawing.

In New York, Cosby’s face appeared crumpled with grief as he arrived at his Manhattan townhome. Before disappearing inside, Cosby said only: “He was my hero.”

The younger Cosby had been visiting Los Angeles, staying at his family’s Pacific Palisades mansion, while on vacation from his studies at Columbia University in New York.

Most of the details of the crime remained a mystery late Thursday, including the identity of the female witness, initially described as a “passerby” who called police to the scene.

Four sources in the Los Angeles Police Department said Cosby knew the woman and was on his way to meet her when his tire went flat. One highly placed source, identifying the woman as Cosby’s friend, said he called her on his cellular phone and asked that she come to his aid. He wanted her to shine her car’s headlights on his vehicle as he worked, the source said.

According to what the woman told investigators, “she came to the scene to help him change the tire, and ultimately became a partial witness,” the sources said.

The distraught woman, driving a Jaguar and wearing a short fur coat, was captured by a television news camera as she was consoled by officers at the crime scene in the predawn darkness. But police declined to disclose her identity.

“She’s the only one who can identify the suspect,” said LAPD spokesman Cmdr. Tim McBride. “This is a murder investigation. Disclosing her identity . . . could put her at risk.”

The woman was “freaking out” at the prospect of being pursued by reporters, fearing that the killer might retaliate against her, McBride said. “She doesn’t want to talk to anybody. She doesn’t want any part of this.”

Nothing the witness told police caused them to alter their initial opinion that “it’s a straight crime, and he’s a straight victim,” McBride said, adding that Cosby might have been robbed. “Somebody just saw this nice car and said, ‘There’s some money here, a nice car, maybe I can get some of that.’ ”

The death seemed to resound deeply with a public that feels “as if it were a death in the family,” said Neal Gabler, a historian and author of several books about culture and the entertainment industry. “I have a feeling that within the next several days, that’s exactly how it’s going to be treated.

“There are celebrities who constitute part of a national family, and I certainly think Bill Cosby qualifies,” Gabler said.

The breadth of the response to the slaying reinforced that view.

“Such a tragic loss diminishes all of us,” said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a close friend of the Cosby family. “We are reminded again of why we must reject violence in its many forms. None of us are safe until all of us are safe.”

Former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young noted that Ennis Cosby’s death came a day after the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “Now the world has lost Ennis Cosby,” Young said in a statement. “Not as well known as Dr. King, but one of the wisest, warmest and most thoughtful young men I’ve ever met.”

New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who appeared on “Cosby” earlier this month, described the public’s intense identification with the loss. “The kind of tragedy through which they are now living is one in which I think every parent, everyone, can really feel,” Giuliani said.

The elder Cosby received the news Thursday morning as he was rehearsing for the regular Thursday evening taping of “Cosby,” his new program. Los Angeles police spokesman McBride said he relayed the news and then talked to the star about the pain of losing a child. McBride’s 16-year-old daughter was killed in a 1979 hit-and-run traffic crash.

The entertainer released only a brief statement, beginning by expressing confidence in the LAPD, then adding: “Our hearts go out to each and every family in which such an incident has occurred. This is a life experience that is truly difficult to share.”

Cosby retreated to his Manhattan townhouse for most of the day, where the shades were drawn and flowers left by the front door. Later in the evening, he and his wife, Camille, and one daughter left the home for a waiting car.

Somber-faced crew members left the Queens studio after the evening’s taping was canceled.

On the West Coast, the media set up camp outside Cosby’s Pacific Palisades estate. The family agreed with police suspicions that the crime was random.

“There would have been no reason for anyone seeking him out,” said David Brokaw, president of the Brokaw Co., a public relations agency. “When you are living a very disciplined life, when you have got all your values in the right place, you’re less inclined to incur someone’s wrath.”

Police said they believe that Ennis Cosby, nearing the end of a two-week vacation, was driving north on the San Diego Freeway and was close to the top of the Sepulveda Pass into the San Fernando Valley when his left front tire went flat. Cosby apparently exited the freeway at Skirball Center Drive and pulled partially onto a dirt shoulder to change tires.

He apparently had removed the flat tire and put on the spare. The lug nuts, crowbar and wrench were lying on the ground next to Cosby’s body when authorities arrived. The trunk and passenger-side door were open.

Police would not say how many shots were fired or describe the nature of Cosby’s wounds.

They appealed to the public, asking anyone who may have seen anything to call them.

While the real-life Ennis Cosby kept a low profile, his alter ego became a staple of America’s television diet--the model for the son “Theo” on the blockbuster “The Cosby Show.” The real and fictional characters shared many struggles--with dyslexia, with ubiquitous sisters, with schoolwork and with a sometimes bumpy adolescence.

Bill Cosby’s pride in his son hit prime time when the last episode of “The Cosby Show” aired in the spring of 1992. The program featured Theo’s triumphant college graduation, a feat that shortly thereafter would be completed by Ennis Cosby, who received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Morehouse College in Atlanta.

Bill Cosby once said he was doubly proud of his son because of the obstacles he had overcome. The boy had once told his father he felt too much pressure to succeed and wanted to be “just regular people,” not putting so much energy into his studies. But things began to turn around when educators at Morehouse diagnosed and began to treat his dyslexia.

On the way to his degree, the younger Cosby worked at an Atlanta homeless shelter, studying and counseling cocaine addicts who lived there.

“He was not your typical Hollywood kid, if there is such a thing, not the kind that usually ends up in the news,” said professor Harold Braithwaite, Ennis’ college advisor. “He was a compassionate person and sensitive to other people. That is my strongest, most potent remembrance of him.”

He was also intent, Braithwaite said, on “being accepted as Ennis, not as the son of Bill Cosby.”

After graduation, the young man entered a graduate program at Columbia University’s Teachers College. He earned his master’s degree in special education in 1995 and was pursuing a doctoral degree in the same field, with emphasis in reading.

Late Thursday afternoon, two of Cosby’s professors, Jeannette E. Fleischner and Margaret Jo Shepherd, sat in a small office at the college. Tears welled in Fleischner’s eyes as she recalled Cosby and his goal of opening a school for children with learning problems.

On Thursday, she said, she had the painful task of informing a 14-year-old boy with whom Cosby had worked for three years that his mentor had been slain.

“I said to him this afternoon when I spoke with him that we needed to celebrate Ennis’ life and to this young man I said I thought that the best way of honoring Ennis was to work as hard at whatever he chose to do with his life, as Ennis had worked with his,” she said.

Times staff writers Andrea Ford, Abigail Goldman, Duke Helfand, Shawn Hubler, Brian Lowry, John L. Mitchell, Beth Shuster and researcher Maloy Moore contributed to this report from Los Angeles. Staff writers John J. Goldman, Jane Hall and researchers Lynette Ferdinand and Lisa Meyer reported from New York.

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‘He Was My Hero’

Ennis Cosby, above, son of entertainer Bill Cosby, was found slain near the 405 Freeway early Thursday. His father, right, returns to his New York home after learning of the death. “He was my hero,” Bill Cosby said of his only son. Below right, the crime scene.

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The Crime Scene

The body of Ennis Cosby, 27, was found sprawled on the pavement next to his Mercedes convertible. Here is a look at the scene.

1) Flat tire replaced.

2) Lug nuts had started to be replaced.

3) Cell phone call made before the killing.

4) Body sprawled along driver’s side.

5) Passenger door and trunk open.

6) Police tagged evidence, including shells, and poured plaster molds in soft shoulder behind car.