Sounak Sengupta
Netflix’s ‘I Am A Killer: A Father’s Shadow’ follows the brutal murder of 28-year-old Coty Beavers in November 2012 in Houston, Texas. Following the allegations of the victim’s family, the investigators had an immediate suspect who was alleged to be involved in the slaying. However, the detectives would soon discover a complex thread of events spanning another homicide and multiple perpetrators.
How Did Coty Beavers Die?
Coty Beavers was born to Shirley McCormick on March 5, 1984. The single mother raised him, his twin brother Cory, and two other children while working at a downtown law firm. Coty was passionate about his interests, including astronomy, politics, conspiracy theories, and aliens. In a touching eulogy, his brother, Cory, reminisced how they grew up “building castles in the wood, magic lamps out of couch cushions, and running from dinosaurs.”
According to court documents, Cory stated how he met Nesreen and her elder sister, Nadia Irsan, in class at Lone Star Community College and also attended school at the University of Texas MD Anderson together. In addition, he testified he introduced his twin brother, Coty, to the Irsan sisters and how Coty and Nesreen “almost immediately began a romantic relationship.” The episode showed how Ali Mahmood Awad Irsan, the girls’ tyrannical and devout Muslim father, forbade them from mixing with non-Muslim friends and forced them to lead a life per his righteous faith.
Unbeknownst to Ali, the girls had a secret group of Christian friends, and the show stated that Nesreen began dating Coty in 2010. However, Cory testified Nadia disapproved of the relationship, a sentiment she voiced her father would also share. According to news reports, witnesses had claimed to hear Nadia say to her sister and her boyfriend – “I can not wait until my dad puts a bullet between your eyes.” While her sister failed to support her, Nesreen found solace in her friendship with an Iranian woman and human rights activist, Gelareh Bagherzadeh.
The episode showed Ali found out about his daughter’s relationship in May 2011, and she was imprisoned in her home against her will. Court documents state Nesreen fled from her home in June 2011 and appeared “at the Beavers’ house with ‘nothing but the clothes she was wearing,’ having run away.” Cory testified how the twins’ mother, Shirley, allowed her to stay in the house. According to the show, she converted to Christianity and married Coty around July 2012.
Moreover, Nesreen had a protective order against Ali, banning him from contacting her and her husband. Hence, it was a shock when 28-year-old Coty was found shot inside his northwest Harris County apartment on November 12, 2012. He had been fatally shot minutes after he accompanied his wife Nesreen to her home and saw her off leaving for work. The prosecution stated he had been shot seven times by the perpetrator.
Ali Irsan Shot Coty Beavers
When the investigators informed Shirley of her son’s homicide, she claimed she immediately suspected Ali was involved. She testified at Coty’s trial, “We knew who was responsible, but we didn’t know who all had helped him. I told (the police officers) it was Ali Irsan, and he also had to be the one who killed Gelareh.” The detectives further learned several individuals had spotted a suspect, enquiring about the whereabouts of the Beavers in Legacy Park two days before the shooting.
Besides, Cory said his slain twin suspected the Irsan patriarch would be behind it if any harm ever befell him. He stated, “He (Coty) said basically if I’m ever killed or murdered, it was Ali Irsan. I mean, he was that specific about it.” All the suspicions of the Beavers’ turned out to be true when Ali was arrested on charges of social benefits fraud in May 2014, along with his wife, Shmou Ali Alrawabdeh, and daughter, Nadia. On April 22, 2015, he and his wife were charged with Coty and Gelareh’s murders.
In May 2015, Nadia was accused of felony stalking charges after allegedly putting a GPS tracker on Nesreen’s car and following her to her apartment. Shmou testified against her husband in July 2018, accusing him of pulling the trigger on Coty as a part of a plea bargain to reduce her pending murder charge to kidnapping. Ali was convicted on July 26, 2018, and sentenced to death on August 14, 2018. Nadia pleaded guilty to organized crime in November 2021 in exchange for ten years of probation.
Read More: Shmou Ali: Where is Ali Irsan’s Wife Now?
