Judge gives Cosby life sentence

Convicted of fatal shooting, defendant eligible for parole in 25 years

A sentencing hearing Thursday didn’t shed any light on why a Lawrence man walked up to an acquaintance last spring and shot and killed him at close range.

“It’s very difficult in this case to understand how and why this crime occurred,” District Court Judge Jack Murphy said before sentencing Lafayette Cosby, 25, to life in prison for the murder of Robert T. Martin, 28.

Cosby will be eligible for parole after 25 years.

The shooting happened April 4 at a late-night party at Jefferson Commons, 2511 W. 31st St.

“There is no good reason” for the shooting, Martin’s girlfriend, Kim Foster, said in court Thursday.

Prosecutors argued Cosby shot Martin without provocation because he feared Martin was out to get him. Cosby’s story, which jurors didn’t believe, was that he saw Martin sitting on a couch concealing a gun under a jacket that Cosby feared he would use to shoot another man.

After the shooting, one of Martin’s friends questioned whether the two men’s troubled history had anything to do with the killing. In 1997, Cosby stabbed and killed one of Martin’s friends, David E. Walker II, but jurors found Cosby had acted in self-defense.

Cosby testified for five hours in November during his trial. At his sentencing Thursday, he spoke only two words.

“No, sir,” Cosby said when Murphy asked him whether he had anything to say before he was sentenced.

video 6News video: Cosby sentenced to life (01-06-05)text Party shooter guilty of murder (11-13-04)video 6News video: Jury finds Cosby guilty in murder case (11-12-04)text Shooter testifies in his own defense (11-12-04)text Testimony contradicts self-defense motive (11-10-04)text Motive at center of slaying trial (11-09-04)video 6News video: Murder trial begins (11-08-04)text Self-defense claim likely in 1st-degree murder trial (10-23-04)text Police capture slaying suspect (4-06-04)text Witnesses recount fatal shooting (05-12-04)text Cosby charged with first-degree murder (05-11-04)text Mother of 1997 stabbing victim ‘totally shocked’ that son’s killer is suspect in Sunday slaying (04-07-04)text Suspect disputes notion shooting was unprovoked (04-07-04)text 6News video: Lawrence man charged with first-degree murder (4-6-04)text Cosby to have first appearance before judge (4-6-04)text 6News video: Suspect arrested in connection with Lawrence homicide (4-6-04)text Manhunt continues for suspect in shooting death (04-05-04)text City records first homicide of ’04 (04-04-04)