Author of ” Murder at Harvard’s Kirkland House: A Mother’s Worst Nightmare” Denise Cosby.

Denise Cosby, mother of Justin Cosby, who was murdered on the campus of Harvard University in 2009, has penned a searing look at the loss of her son, the court cases that followed, and the impact on greater Boston community. The subject of media headlines for years, the death of Justin Cosby focused attention on issues of race and privilege against the backdrop of an Ivy League school. The book is set to be released on April 27.

Cosby’s book, Murder at Harvard’s Kirkland House: A Mother’s Worst Nightmare, examines the truths and falsehoods surrounding the loss of Justin. She chronicles the events surrounding the death of her son and traces the investigations, indictments, and trials that ensued, each taking a painful toll.

“I wrote this memoir as a way to start conversations. Conversations with family and with community about choices and consequences,” said Cosby. “I cannot bring my son, Justin, back. But I can bring this story – his story and mine – forward.”

The memoir includes heartbreaking moments, recalling the last letter from her son, their final moments together, and the shockwaves of grief that engulfed the Cosby family. It also dispels the rumors and characterizations spun by pundits about Justin, himself a college student, as a hoodlum and a hardened drug dealer.

“Justin was a bright light. A student himself, making his way in the world. What happened to him should not have happened – to any young person,” Cosby said.

The author was born in Richmond, Virginia, and received her degree from Virginia Union University in 1978. She relocated to Cambridge in 1988, seeking a safe, diverse community to raise her son and daughter as a single mother. For over twenty years, Cosby worked as a legal assistant in large corporate law firms in Boston, including Ropes & Gray.

Justin’s murder thrust Cosby and her family into national and international headlines. Through her prose, she conveys the weight of this spotlight on a mother’s heart and her search for justice.

In Murder at Harvard’s Kirkland House, Cosby relates the events as they unfolded in 2009. Investigations by the Harvard University, Cambridge, and Massachusetts State police forces resulted in the investigation of several suspects, including Harvard students about to graduate.

Jabrai Jordan Copney, a New York native, who was living illegally on the Harvard campus with his girlfriend, shot Justin Cosby on May 18. Copney had lured Cosby to the residence of his girlfriend, Harvard student Brittany Smith, to steal marijuana from him. An altercation ensued, and Copney, who solicited two of his friends to travel from New York and bring a gun, which ultimately became the illegal firearm that was used to kill Justin.

Several accomplices, including Smith, were convicted and sentenced to prison for their roles in the cover-up and murder. Copney was convicted of first-degree murder in 2011 and sentenced to life without parole.

“I found myself in a situation I never could have imagined. The funeral, the trials, the aftermath. But, I found my voice and I want to share it with the world,” Cosby noted.

The murder of her son has inspired Cosby to reach beyond her grief. Through her writing and her outreach, she offers insight into the impact this loss has been for her and her community.

“I want my story to inspire, motivate, and empower others to find their own voices and tell their own stories – stories that will keep a loved one’s memory from being distorted by speculations and media misinterpretations, as happened in Justin’s case,” Cosby said.

The book, self-published with the encouragement of a large circle of survivors and supporters, is a testament to the worst nightmare a mother could experience.

Cosby will release the book on April 27, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. in Cambridge, at La Fabrica Restaurant, 450 Massachusetts Avenue. She will be speaking regionally through the spring, and her book can be purchased through her website murderharvardkirklandhouse.com.

Cosby is real estate agent with Century 21 North East, Norton Group, 699 Broadway Somerville.