Euclid man gets prison for leaving Elyria man to die in 14th Street snowbank in 2022

A Cuyahoga County man already in prison for a 2023 murder in Cleveland has been sentenced to an additional year in prison for leaving a man having a drug overdose to die in a snowbank on an Elyria street nearly four years ago. Augustus G. Frazier IV, 35, of Euclid, pleaded guilty Monday to reckless homicide, a felony, in Lorain County Common Pleas Court. Judge Donna Freeman accepted the plea, found Frazier guilty and immediately sentenced him to 12 months in prison, according to the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office. A trial was supposed to start Oct. 27. A message seeking comment was left for Frazier's attorney. Frazier was charged with leaving James E. Little, 34, of Elyria in a snowbank on 14th Street in the city on Feb. 13, 2022, where he froze to death. Chief Assistant Prosecutor Chris Pierre said Frazier and Little met to do a drug deal outside the Just One More Bar on West Avenue that night. Frazier was not charged with drug trafficking, but Pierre said the prosecution's theory was that Little overdosed in the back seat of Frazier's car after ingesting synthetic opioids that Frazier sold him. Frazier then drove several blocks away and left Little in a snowbank in front of a house on 14th Street, Pierre said. Frazier "dumped his body in a snowbank next to a wooded area where no one would find him, and he didn't move," Pierre said. Residents of that neighborhood found Little the next morning. Pierre said investigators later used doorbell camera footage to determine the time, within minutes, of when Frazier left Little there to die. The Lorain County Coroner's Office determined Little's cause of death was environmental hypothermia due to acute intoxication, Pierre said. He had multiple drugs in his system, including the painkiller fentanyl, as well as alcohol. Little was known as "Jimmy" or "Jimbo" according to his published obituary. The California native and 2005 graduate of Elyria High School was survived by his parents, two brothers, two nieces and a nephew.Frazier's reckless homicide sentence will run consecutive to a prison sentence he is serving after being convicted of murdering a man in Cleveland more than two years ago. Following a one-week trial in April, a Cuyahoga County jury found Frazier guilty of murder, felonious assault, having weapons under disability and firearms specifications, for the Aug. 8, 2023, shooting death of Alexander Eaton, 28. Common Pleas Judge Brian Mooney sentenced Frazier to life in prison in May, with the possibility of parole after 21 years. He got credit for 404 days already served toward his sentence, according to court records. Court records and media reports said Eaton was shot and killed in the 11000 block of Minor Ave. on the city's southeast side after pulling up outside a house in his car. The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office said in court that Eaton had a drug problem, owed people money and that both Frazier and Roderick Foster shot at him before he was able to drive off. Eaton crashed his car into a nearby house and was found dead by emergency first responders, according to media reports. Foster, 34, pleaded guilty in May to involuntary manslaughter, having weapons under disability and a firearms specification. Mooney sentenced him to 7-to-9 years in prison, according to court records. Frazier has prior felony convictions for attempted felonious assault and drug trafficking in Cuyahoga County and by law is not allowed to own or possess guns. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com