‘This Is Ridiculous!’: White Georgia Woman Arrested In Fatal Shooting of Black Boyfriend After Victim’s Brother Alleged a ‘Cover Up;’ Outraged Community Demand ‘Higher Charges’
New details emerge after arrest in Burke County fatal shooting
Authorities in Waynesboro, Georgia have arrested the girlfriend of a Black father of two who they say shot him to death in the bedroom they shared early Sunday morning.
Sheriff Alfonzo Williams said Tuesday that Hannah Cobb, 25, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of 30-year-old Telvin “Telbo Rackins” Osborne, who died at a local hospital.
The shooting occurred after “both parties had been drinking,” said Sheriff Williams, confirming the couple fought before the fatal bullet was shot. Cobb and Osborne lived together and had two children.
“The offenses committed leading up to the discharge of the firearm included simple battery, family violence and reckless conduct,” Sheriff said during a news conference on Tuesday. “It is reckless to go out and get drunk and then introduce a fire arm into an argument. It is reckless to engage in an argument where there’s pushing and shoving going on.”
Cobb is being held at Burke County jail, said the sheriff, who stressed that the shooting was not an accident.
Sheriff Williams said investigators worked the last two days, interviewing friends, family members and other witnesses before they “were able to secure warrants and make an arrest in this case.” Osborne worked at the Savannah River nuclear plant.
Investigators had said little until today. But Osborne’s younger brother, Roderick Williams, pointed the finger at Cobb early on, alleging she shot his sibling while suggesting police were covering up for her because she is white.
The sheriff’s office said Cobb cooperated with the investigation. She notified authorities that Osborne had been shot.
Online, speculation ran wild following a post from the brother, who shared his thoughts on Facebook in a lengthy post about the investigation that had generated 744 shares and 250 comments as of Monday evening.
“So Hannah Grace Cobb Kills my Brother Telbo Rackins after leaving a club partying,” Roderick Williams alleged.
“She claims she went home and cleaned a d*mn gun and shot him in the head,” he said. “Anybody out there knows something doesn’t sound right about that.”
Sheriff Williams has confirmed that Cobb was not cleaning her gun when the incident occurred.
The victim’s brother goes on to ask why Cobb didn’t put her gun on safety while cleaning it. “It could’ve shot anybody,” Roderick Williams said. “Who parties gets drunk and goes home in the middle of the night and cleans a gun?”
The victim’s brother asked why the sheriff’s department had withheld this information from the news media.
He continues, “Sorry but I don’t buy it and she needs to be locked up!! It’s negligent to even consider cleaning a gun if that’s what happened what if a child was there. You’re cleaning a gun you had to pull the trigger on the gun so wtf was your finger around the trigger? This is ridiculous!!”
Roderick Williams alleges a racist cover-up in subsequent posts, writing, “Georgia headlines make sure to broadcast everything blacks do but a white woman kills my brother and I haven’t seen anything online at all other than our grieving family smh.”
By Feb. 24 Roderick Williams wrote that his “sources” have told him the house his brother shared with Cobb “has never been set up as a crime scene and if so it wasn’t one right after my brother was found dead there.”
“So why didn’t law enforcement feel the need to do so?” he asks. “Why didn’t they contact the media immediately? They knew they needed to cover up for her actions.”
He also posted a video, allegedly of Cobb, dancing at a club just hours before his brother’s shooting.
The outrage only grew on social media after Sheriff’s Williams new conference. While comments were limited for the broadcast several comments questioned the charges for Cobb.
“Would it be involuntary manslaughter if he was true one to pull the trigger ?!?!? Answer that,” asked one user.
Another added, “How the heck are we saying involuntary ???? When he literally just said it had been determined this was not accidental …..”
“We know what involuntary manslaughter is !!! She needs a higher charge!!!!!,” wrote another.