By Jack Rooney
The Columbus Dispatch
WOOSTER, Ohio -- A Massillon man accused of involuntary manslaughter for allegedly selling drugs that led to a Wooster man’s overdose death in February was back in jail Tuesday after his mother, who originally posted his bond, requested that the bond be returned to her.
Travis Cottrell, 22, of the 700 block of Andrew Avenue NE, was indicted on Oct. 15, 2018, on five felony counts including involuntary manslaughter and corrupting another with drugs. At the time, Wayne County Common Pleas Judge Corey E. Spitler set Cottrell’s bond at 10% of a $25,000 appearance bond, which Cottrell’s mother, Heather Robinson, posted four days later. On June 14, though, Robinson filed a motion to revoke Cottrell’s bond.
“Travis told me he would obtain employment and treatment for his addiction,” Robinson wrote in her motion. “I posted this (bond) because I believed he would. It’s been 8 months now and he has not attempted to even find a job and is still using.”
Robinson testified briefly during Cottrell’s bond hearing Tuesday afternoon and said she does not want to be responsible for her son’s court appearances.
“I want him out of my house. He is mentally and physically abusive to me and is not going to change,” Robinson also wrote in her motion. “I no longer want to be responsible for him.”
Cottrell told Spitler that he never laid a hand on his mother. But, the judge replied, that is not the entire issue.
“I think it’s more than that, Mr. Cottrell. I think she’s tired of putting up with you,” Spitler said. “Whether you put your hands on her or not ... part of the issue is you told her you were going to get a job and you didn’t get a job. It’s been eight months. And I don’t think she likes, probably, your attitude around the house.
“And she doesn’t want to be responsible for you showing up (to court),” Spitler added. “You can’t get a job, you can’t do the things she’s asked you to do, so she doesn’t want to be responsible for your appearance in court.”
Spitler ordered that the $2,525 bond Robinson posted be returned to her, and that Cottrell be held in the Wayne County Jail until he can re-post his bond. Cottrell’s case will now move to a pre-trial hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.
Cottrell is charged with involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony, and two counts each of corrupting another with drugs, a second-degree felony, and aggravated trafficking in drugs, a fourth-degree felony. Those charges stem from the events of Feb. 16 to 19, 2018, when Cottrell allegedly sold fentanyl and carfentanil to 24-year-old Nickolas Snyder, who lived in the 500 block of North Buckeye Street. Snyder died of an overdose and was found in his residence on Feb. 20, 2018.
Cottrell’s attorney, Matthew Malone, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
©2019 The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio)