Warren man indicted in death of common-law wife’s son, 3

Staff report

WARREN

A Trumbull County grand jury indicted Arthur A. Harper, 43, of High Street Northeast, on charges of murder, child endangering and felonious assault in the Nov. 30 death of his common-law wife’s son, Russell Cottrill, 3.

Harper will be arraigned at 9 a.m. Monday by Judge Peter Kontos of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

Harper called 911 at 6:38 p.m. Nov. 28 to report that Russell was unresponsive. The boy died two days later in a Cleveland hospital after suffering what a Warren police detective called “severe head trauma.”

Russell’s mother, Judith Owens, told The Vindicator on Dec. 4 she was reserving judgment on what caused her son’s death, saying: “I try not to judge people, regardless of the outcome. That’s just me. This thing in particular, [Harper] is going to have to live with the rest of his life,” adding later, “We all make mistakes.”

Owens was not home at the time the boy became unresponsive.

In Harper’s 911 call, he said Russell was upstairs in his room lying down, and Harper heard a “thump,” and the boy was then unresponsive.

Owens said Harper, who is disabled and doesn’t work, moved in with her and Russell over the summer. She said Harper and she were common-law husband and wife.

Harper has been in the county jail without eligibility to make bond since his arrest Dec. 3 on a felony child-endangering charge. If convicted of murder, Harper could get a life prison sentence.

The Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office said Wednesday it has not ruled on Russell’s death. But if it is ruled a homicide, it will be the fourth one of the year in Warren for 2015.