LISBON — Authorities placed two more defendants in custody who were allegedly involved in the 2021 shooting which left Brycen Douglas dead in East Liverpool: alleged shooter Curtis D≥ Holland and the alleged driver Travis W. Kidder, both facing murder charges.

The Columbiana County Grand Jury issued the indictments Wednesday afternoon and members of the county sheriff’s office, the county drug task force and the U.S. Marshal’s Office hunted them down, making the arrests Thursday morning in East Liverpool.

“From the moment the two Tisdales were convicted, we’ve been continuously gathering information to seek indictments on these two,” county Prosecutor Vito Abruzzino said during a brief interview Thursday morning.

Elvin “EJ” Tisdale, 35, was sentenced in June to life in prison without the possibility of parole for aggravated murder (with the murder charge merged for sentencing), plus an additional mandatory three years for a firearm specification and an additional 36 months or three years for having weapons under disability for being prohibited from having or using a gun due to a previous felony conviction for drugs.

His “cousin” Allen Tisdale, 25, was sentenced to at least 10 years in prison in July after testifying in the trial against EJ. He entered a guilty plea in May to involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony, and complicity to improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation, a second-degree felony. He was originally facing charges of aggravated murder and murder, but eventually told investigators what happened and agreed to testify as part of a plea deal.

Douglas was just 20 years old at the time of his death and was sitting on a porch with some friends in East Liverpool’s east end on July 15, 2021 when Allan said that EJ and Curtis Holland walked between two houses across the street and opened fire on the porch, hitting Douglas. Allan said he was the lookout and he identified Travis Kidder as the driver who brought them all to the area near Pennsylvania Avenue.

Abruzzino said both Holland and Kidder were taken into custody without incident in East Liverpool, Kidder on Bradshaw Avenue and Holland on Dewey Avenue. With the Tisdales in prison and Holland and Kidder in custody, he said “this is the whole crew from that night.”

Holland, 29, whose address was listed as West Fourth Street, East Liverpool, was charged with aggravated murder and murder, both unclassified felonies, a third-degree felony of having weapons while under disability and two firearm specifications. He’s accused of causing Brycen’s death and of using a weapon when he was prohibited from having or using a gun due to a previous drug conviction.

Kidder, 25, Bradshaw Avenue, East Liverpool, had already been facing a third-degree felony of obstructing justice for allegedly lying to investigators. Now he’s been served with a superseding indictment that charges him with the obstructing count along with aggravated murder and murder and two counts of complicity in the commission of an offense, all unclassified felonies, and three firearm specifications, all related to the shooting.

“Obviously, this is a continuation of the indictments stemming from the Brycen Douglas homicide,” Abruzzino said.

He said “we didn’t know the full truth of who was involved until that investigation concluded and the trial was concluded.”

He said his position and the position of the prosecutor’s office is that a case is never closed until they’ve sought accountability for all involved.

Abruzzino said Brycen’s family was contacted shortly after Holland and Kidder were taken into custody. Throughout all the proceedings for the Tisdales and for Kidder, Brycen’s family members, including his mother and aunt, were in the courtroom.

“They’ve obviously been very emotional, understandably so. We’re cognizant that more emotional times are ahead,” he said. “I know they’re appreciative of the fact that we’re going after everybody involved in Brycen’s murder.”

In a press release, Abruzzino credited state and local law enforcement agencies for their investigative efforts in this matter. The East Liverpool Police Department, Ohio BCI&I and members of the Columbiana County Major Crimes Task Force conducted a thorough investigation resulting in the grand jury indictment.

According to court records, Kidder remains scheduled to face trial on Jan. 14, with a status hearing set at 10:20 a.m. Jan. 5. Those dates could change considering the new charges.

mgreier@mojonews.com