Warren man charged with killing boy, 5, in 2015 seeks to have comments suppressed

Staff report

WARREN

Arthur A. Harper, 44, gave a statement to a police detective in the 2015 death of his common-law wife’s son, 3, after the detective told Harper the only way to get to heaven would be to clear his conscience and tell the truth.

Harper’s attorney, John Juhasz, filed a motion with Judge Peter Kontos of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on Friday asking that Harper’s statement be suppressed from his trial on the grounds that it was the product of “intimidation, coercion or deception.”

The judge has scheduled a hearing for 1:30 p.m. April 21.

The filing says Warren police detective Nick Carney spoke with Harper on Nov. 29, 2015, at the hospital, where the boy, Russell Cottrill, 3, was being treated. According to the filing, Harper told Carney he heard a “thump” upstairs and assumed the boy had fallen out of bed. Harper called 911, saying Russell was unresponsive at the High Street Northeast home the boy shared with Harper and his mother. He died Nov. 30 after suffering what Carney called “severe head trauma.”

During a second interview Dec. 2 at the police station, Carney said he didn’t believe Harper’s original story and that “the only way to get a pass into the ‘pearly gates’ of heaven would be to clear his conscience and tell the ‘truth,’” the filing says.

Carney also told Harper he was giving him the opportunity to “give some peace to Russell, who’s looking down saying, ‘Daddy, tell the truth,’” the filing says.

Harper is charged with murder, child endangering and felonious assault. If convicted of murder, he could get a life prison sentence.

Judge Kontos ruled March 2 that Harper is competent to stand trial.