Murder Charge Filed in Prom Party Slaying

As the parents of a slain 17-year-old La Crescenta girl bought a grave for their daughter Tuesday, the young man accused of shooting her after an all-night prom party was charged in an Orange County courtroom with murder.

Although friends and witnesses say that Paul M. Crowder, 19, did not mean to kill Berlyn Cosman, officials said they believe the murder charge is appropriate.

At a news conference Tuesday, Orange County Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi said Crowder acted with “implied malice and a conscious disregard of life” when he shot Berlyn in an Anaheim hotel room. “We do believe we can substantiate the charge of murder.” Capizzi declined to discuss details of the case.

At his home in La Crescenta, Berlyn Cosman’s father said investigators and witnesses told him that the youth had been waving a gun in the hours before the shooting, loading and unloading it and pulling the trigger several times when there was no bullet in the chamber.

Berlyn, a standout basketball player at Crescenta Valley High School, was shot once in the head about 6 a.m. Saturday as she slept on a couch in Room 608 of the Crown Sterling Suites in Anaheim on the morning after her senior prom. She died 18 hours later at UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange.

Crowder’s friends said that although he had a fascination with guns, they believe the shooting was an accident.

But police said Crowder had waved his pistol throughout the evening at Berlyn and 14 other party-goers who rented three rooms at the hotel for a night of drinking. Crowder, a former student at the school, dated one of Berlyn’s basketball teammates.

Anaheim Police Lt. John Cross also confirmed reports that three guns were confiscated Monday from the trunk of a car belonging to one of the party-goers. But he said the weapons do not appear to be connected to Crowder.

“We don’t have any indication that those guns belonged to him,” Cross said.

Police said they have not yet recovered the gun used in the shooting and asked for the public’s help in finding it.

Crowder, who is tall with medium-length dark hair and a muscular build, spoke few words during an appearance Tuesday morning in North Orange County Municipal Court in Fullerton.

Dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans, Crowder said only “yes, ma’am” twice in answer to questions posed by Municipal Court Judge Margaret R. Anderson. The judge appointed a public defender and ordered Crowder held at Orange County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.

Berlyn’s parents said that for now they would reserve judgment on the young man charged in the killing of their daughter.

“It seems like either he’s a terrible criminal or he’s a fool,” said Mark Cosman, 46, Berlyn’s father. “If he’s a fool, he’ll get a fool’s punishment. But if he’s a killer, he’ll get a killer’s punishment.”

Cosman and his wife, Susan, 49, spent most of Tuesday making the final arrangements for their daughter’s funeral. A memorial service is scheduled for Thursday evening at Holy Redeemer Church in La Crescenta.

“We purchased a grave today,” Cosman said. “I never thought I’d have to do that for little Berlyn. . . . We have to start our family all over again. Our lives are completely different now. We’re a different family.”

Berlyn’s gold compact car was parked in front of the home. Her blue-and-white graduation tassel hung from the rearview mirror and a basket of flowers had been placed on the hood by her classmates.

The Cosmans were also preparing to attend an awards ceremony Tuesday evening at which their daughter was to be posthumously recognized as the school’s outstanding basketball player.

Cosman said he would rather believe that his daughter’s death was an accident and not a premeditated act.

“I can’t believe anybody would hate my daughter enough to kill her,” he said. “I was relieved to hear (at first) that it was an accident. It would be an easier story for me to live with the rest of my life.”