A MEMOIR ABOUT THE 2009 MURDER OF MY SON JUSTIN COSBY ON THE GROUNDS OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY, THE AGONGY OF DEALING WITH THE MURDER OF A CHILD, NAVIGATING THE LEGAL SYSTE, COPING AFTER THE FACT AND RESOURCES TO EXPLORE CHOICES AND DECISION THAT COULD CHANGE THE FABRIC OF LIVES.
Happy Thanksgiving to All and especially to those of us who are feeling our Loss
As I sit here and reflect on past Thanksgivings, all I can think of is those who meant so much to me who are no longer with me. Of course, I think of my parents who I shared a close relationship with and were the cornerstones of my life.
Oh, how I miss them. My dad making numerous trips to the grocery store, picking up things he forgot and additional items my mom sent him to get to make that Thanksgiving dinner so special. Mom was always in the kitchen and the fumes from the turkey, collard greens, candid yams, etc. to delight your pallet filled the air.
Until I lost my beloved Justin, I did the same thing for my daughter Shenita and him. Holiday were always important. What seemed so trivial but meant so much is gone and life will never be the same again. I don’t care how many people come or don’t come, life is so different and the magnitude of our loss cannot be measured or debated.
Nevertheless, this Thanksgiving, let’s keep in mind the blessings God has graced us with. The fact that God did not give us our children and loved ones, he loaned them to us. Just as he giveth, he taketh. And as thankful we are for that loan and equally as hurt from the loss, let’s look to those we still have with us, enjoy them, be thankful for them and not take them for granted.
And let’s remember that the memories we make today are the ones we will look back on tomorrow.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone from http://www.survivingmurder1.com
Denise Cosby
Author of Forthcoming Memoir:
Murder at Harvard University Kirkland House –A Mother’s Worst Nightmare
THE CALL
EVERYDAY A PARENT RECEIVES A CALL THAT CHANGES THEIR LIVES FOREVER. THIS IS THE CALL THAT NOBODY WISHES ON THEIR WORST ENEMY. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE RECEIVED THIS CALL;
DO YOU REMEMBER THE CALL?
“The Call”
On May 18, 2009, I received “the call.”
The call that changed my life forever still rings loudly in my head almost five years later.
Around 4:15 p.m. on May 18, 2009, I stood in front of my television set and watched a news bulletin flash across my screen. The report indicated a young man had been shot at Harvard University. Having been home all day, I decided to go out for a while after watching the alarming news story. I left the house thinking my son Justin was in his room due to the fact that he had been there all day. I planned to call him a little later that afternoon. About an hour after leaving the house I received a call from Justin’s girlfriend. She told me Justin had left home and she hadn’t heard from him in some time. After trying to text him and call him, she could not reach him. This was unusual for Justin so she decided to call me. I told her I had not heard from Justin and would call him. Justin was very close to me. Proud to be a “momma’s boy,” he was 21 years old, and my baby. If I called him, he would always answer or call me right back. I picked up the phone and called him. The call went straight to his voice mail. I left him a message to call me right away. I began to text him and received no answer. The silence concerned me. I decided to leave my friends’ home of whom I had gone to visit with for a while, and proceeded to drive home.
Opioid Crisis and The White House: A National Emergency of Mixed Messages
Josh DuBose, a free-lance reporter and graduate student at Harvard reports “Mixed Messages on Opioid Crisis and the White House”.
A little more than a week ago, on August 10, President Trump announced plans to declare a national emergency in lieu of the nation’s crisis of opioid overdose deaths. According to the White House’s own survey, opioid related fatalities now kill 142 Americans every single day.
Just two days earlier, however, on August 8, Trump said his administration’s approach to battling the addiction epidemic would come in the form of law-and-order. “Strong law enforcement is absolutely vital to having a drug-free society,” the president told a room of assembled advisors and reporters.
The about-face from beefing-up law enforcement ranks to declaring a national emergency has…….http://joshdubose.com/2017/08/18/opioid-crisis-white-house-national-emergency-mixed-messages/
Happy Mother’s Day!
A mother is Love. A mother is strength. A mother is a nurturer? A mother is one of the most patient people on earth. A mother can be biological or not. She gives many chances and have taken much crap from her Young yet she stands strong behind them. She takes care of her young or the young she has come to know as her children. A mother is a teacher doctor and a preacher.
A mother is forgiving. When she is at the end of her rope and think she is about to brake – her rope gets a little longer and she gives her child just one more chance.
A mother teaches right from wrong. She not only talk the talk she walks the walk. A mother recognizes that children learn by example. A good mother is Godly.
There are many who can quote you every scripture in the bible but do not live by them. A good mother teaches by example.
A mother is an inspiration. She is dependable in times of need. She creates memories that last beyond life or when there is nothing else to hang on too.
Many of us mothers have lost all children to murder By the hands of the evil. Let us know that the memories we hold today are what we created yesterday. When we separate from our children we embrace the memories we shared through the good times and the bad.
Know that as long as we have breath in our bodies there is still time to embrace the children we have left here on Earth and create new memories that will leave a smile in the hearts of those left behind when we are no longer together.
My mother was all of those things and I miss her dearly!
Happy Mother’s Day to all Mothers from www.survivingmurder1.com
PAROLE DENIED FOR BLAYN JIGGETTS (ONE OF JUSTIN COSBY’S MURDERERS)
In October 2011, the Massachusetts Superior Court sentenced Blayn Jiggetts, an an accomplice of Jabrai Copney in the murder of Justin Cosby to serve 9-12 years for his role in Justin Cosby’s murder. It has not been 8 years yet and he had the audacity to petition the Massachusetts State Board of Appeals for an early release on February 23, 2011.
Blayn Jiggetts appeared before a Parole Hearings panel and spoke of activities and programs he has participated in since he has been locked up.
Impact statements were delivered by Justin’s mother Denise and his Aunt Joyce. They reminded the Court how much pain and trauma this predator has caused Justin’s family, friends and the Community in which he lived. The family spoke of the trauma of losing Justin so young to murder because of someone else’s selfishness. Justin’s Aunt Joyce told the Court how she witnessed the trauma her sister experienced watching her son die as she stood beside his blood drenched sheets and watch the hope dwindle from the doctors faces that fateful day in May 2009.
Denise, Justin’s mom told the Court that Death is like having a conversation you never finish and when it occurs because of someone else’s decision other than God, it is unforgivable in her eyes. Also, she stated: “I wish my son was here and could get a second chance, however Death is final. There are no appeals, second chances or considerations of parole. Thus the person who causes another’s death and receives a sentence from a judge and jury for his punishment should be final also!” If the Court were to release this man this early after being involved in murder and other violent crimes, it would send the wrong message. “You can commit the crime, participate in activities while locked up and you do not have to do the time!” Denise also suggested to the Court that: “For the community and for Justin, Blayn Jiggetts has been sentenced to serve 12 years for his role and he should not be released a day sooner unless you can grant the same opportunity to Justin.”
On February 24, 2017, The Massachusetts State Board of Appeals DENIED Blayn Jiggetts request for parole!
God is good of of the time!
REMEMBERING JUSTIN 7 YEARS LATER
Over the past 24 hours, I have relived each moment of 7 years ago. I woke up and thought of how we greeted one another that morning with a smile and kiss. I thought of how you called out to me about 10:30 that morning when I was in the kitchen and you called out to me “Mom, Iove you!
I thought about how we discussed being safe by watching news reports of accidents and other mishaps but never did I think that evening when I watched the news bulletin flash across my television set that a young man had been shot at Harvard University was you!
I sent you this card when you were 16 son and you gave it to me to hold on too. I still have it and will share it with others today. “In Case I Haven’t Told You How Much I I still have it today and echo the same thoughts. I am so glad to have had a chance to tell you how proud of you. “In Case I Haven’t Told You Lately – I’m STILL Proud of you My Child.”
My heart was so heavy and destroyed and 7 years later it still is. No parent should ever have to bury a child and no person that was as good of a person as you should have been murdered
Today, I know I echo a lot of parents feelings when their child has been taken away but murder. Parents that still have children, please let them know how much you love them now. Let’s not take them for granted. There is no amount of time that will make you
forget.
I MISS HIM SO MUCH!
7 years have passed. Missing you so much!
Today, with much sadness marks 7 years since my son Justin was shot. The years are passing fast. Each day I miss him more and more and would do anything to hear his voice again. I am always a little confused as to whether I should recognize him on the day he was shot which is May 18 or May 19 when he died.
Today, I recognize him because when he was shot, we lost him. Justin only regained consciousness for a short time which he was in the hospital. I was not in the room at the moment but the nurse informed me that she had notified Justin I was there.
It bothers me that I did not get to tell him myself while he was conscious but Thank God that he knew I was there.
Murder is just about the worst thing that can happen to someone. It does not only take the person’s life that was murdered but it drains the quality of life from everyone who loved that person. This pain has not only affected my family but so many families are mourning.
Today, I recognize my son Justin Cosby.
I will always love you and miss you forever.
Mom
Two Mothers of Murdered Children Meet – Sabrina Fuller (Trayvonn Martin’s Mom and Denise Cosby)
On April 24th 2016, I had the distinct honor to be invited to a luncheon to meet with Ms. Sabrina Fuller – Trayvon Martin’s mother. She was at Bunker Hill College to speak with students.
It was a pleasure to speak with her and students regarding the Lost of a child and the repercussions of murder.
WWW.SURVIVINGMURDER1.COM WISHES EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS
Another Christmas has arrived. Memories of days passed circulates through our minds and hearts. Let us remember those who have gone on before us and rejoice in the memories they left us.
Our loved ones are no longer with us in the flesh but the love we shared will live in our hearts forever. Whether this is your first Christmas without your loved one or the twentieth, we know life will never be the same again. However, lets continue to celebrate their lives.
Merry Christmas to my mother Juanita, father Abraham, brothers Abraham and Roland and especially to my son Justin Devin Cornelius Daniel Cosby. The love we shared will always be remembered and cherished!
LOVE ALWAYS,
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