Pair charged in fatal overdose plead guilty

LORAIN — Two Lorain residents charged with selling drugs in 2022 that killed a 22-year-old new father who had just gotten out of an addiction recovery program have pleaded guilty to felony charges for causing his death. Abigail Link and Tyler Fox, both 25 and both of W. 20th St., both recently pleaded guilty to one count each of reckless homicide and trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound, in Lorain County Common Pleas Court. Judge Giovanna Bremke accepted the pleas, found both Fox and Link guilty, ordered a presentence investigation by probation officials and scheduled sentencing for June 27, according to court records. A trial had been scheduled to begin last week. Messages seeking comment on the pleas were left for the defendants' attorneys, while there is no sentencing agreement, according to the Lorain County prosecutor's office. The incident Fox and Link were originally charged in 2022 with involuntary manslaughter, corrupting another with drugs and trafficking in fentanyl following an investigation by Vermilion Police and the DEA. Vermilion police responded May 16, 2022, to a report that 22-year-old Justin Cramer, who had just become a father and also just completed a 30-day drug treatment program, had overdosed. Cramer was pronounced dead at Mercy Health Hospital in Lorain less than a week after his 22nd birthday. The Lorain County Coroner's Office ruled his death was caused by a fentanyl overdose. An investigation revealed that Fox and Link were the ones who sold the drugs to Cramer. They were arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service at a motel in Amherst in October 2022 and served with a secret indictment. Read more at chroniclet.com.