Seeking the $100,000 reward offered by the National Enquirer, an acquaintance of the shooter provided information that led to Markhasev's arrest in March 1997.

[2] Subsequently, Markhasev was tried and convicted of first-degree murder and attempted robbery on July 7, 1998, and was sentenced to life in prison the following month.

[6] Ennis was born at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Los Angeles and grew up in Southern California, Pennsylvania, and New York City.

He then spent a summer semester in Putney, Vermont, undergoing intensive academic training at Landmark College, a private university established exclusively for students with learning disabilities.

[8] In his free time, Ennis tutored students at elementary and high schools and earned a Morehouse bachelor's degree in 1992, which he followed with a master's from Columbia University in New York in 1995.

His friends recalled that he kept a low profile and did not want special treatment, and would just say that his father worked "in business" when asked why he had lived in three states.

[7] Prior to his death at 27 years old, Ennis was working toward his doctorate in special education at Columbia University's Teachers College and also planned to set up a school for children with learning disabilities.

His parents had the phrase put on a sign near his grave,[8] and several months after his death, Bill released a jazz collection titled Hello, Friend: To Ennis With Love.

At approximately 1:00 a.m. PST, he pulled off the freeway onto Skirball Center Drive, tending to a flat tire on his dark green Mercedes-Benz.

[9] The Los Angeles Police Department contacted Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who was a close friend of Bill Cosby, to request his phone number.

Waters declined their request, but asked another close friend of the comedian, Essence magazine publisher Ed Lewis, to inform him of his son's death.

A news helicopter from local station KTLA had captured aerial footage of Cosby lying dead on the road on January 16, and included closeups of his body.

The network received hundreds of calls of complaint, and anchor Bobbie Battista apologized on air for broadcasting the footage.

[9][11] Journalist Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "CNN carelessly crossed a line Thursday by airing a tasteless close-up of the body of Bill Cosby's murdered son, Ennis, lying in a pool of blood... Will another line be crossed by media badgering his famous father and the rest of his grieving family for comments about his death?

The family issued a statement saying, "We do not accept people coming to our homes, because this is a time we want to ourselves to find solutions to questions in our hearts.

"[20] Rosenberg also criticized Los Angeles CBS affiliate KCBS-TV; KCBS "Action News" for blurring out the face of the sole witness, Stephanie Crane.

Republican Assemblyman Gary Miller called it a "transparent political stunt" by Davis, who later launched a successful bid for governor.

Wilson's spokesman stated that the governor did not proactively volunteer rewards but would act only after local law enforcement requested it.

On February 8, Wilson rescinded the offer Davis had made, citing the Cosby family's request that no taxpayer money be used as a reward.

[2] The police stated they believed the motive to be an attempted robbery or carjacking committed by a stranger who had been drawn to Cosby's expensive Mercedes convertible.

Peters and her boyfriend, Eli Zakaria (who refused to testify, invoking his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself), were with Markhasev on the night of the murder and were high on cocaine and heroin.

[28] Peters testified they had stopped to use the pay phone at a park-and-ride lot about 450 feet (140 m) from where Cosby had pulled over to fix his flat tire.

[3][13][29] In February 2001, Markhasev sent a letter to California Deputy Attorney General Kyle Brodie asking that all appeals in his case stop.

"Although my appeal is in its beginning stages, I don't want to continue with it because it's based on falsehood and deceit," wrote Markhasev, who is incarcerated at California State Prison, Corcoran.