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LISBON -- The sentencing for the man identified as the driver in a 2021 East Liverpool murder case has been reset to 10 a.m. March 8 so he can testify in the Feb. 22 jury trial against a co-defendant, which was a requirement of his plea deal.
Travis W. Kidder, 26, Bradshaw Avenue, East Liverpool, appeared in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Monday morning for what was supposed to be his sentencing hearing before Judge Megan Bickerton, but attorneys for both sides presented a joint motion for a continuance.
County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Weeda explained that Kidder already entered a guilty plea and that plea depends on his testimony in the case against Curtis Holland. Holland, 30, Dewey Avenue, East Liverpool, recently changed attorneys and had his trial date moved to February, with a status hearing set for 1 p.m. Dec. 10 before Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Washam.
In April 2026, Kidder pleaded guilty to amended charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence, along with a charge of obstructing justice. As part of the deal, he has to testify and be truthful in the case against Holland.
When indictments were first issued related to the murder of Brycen Douglas, Kidder was originally just charged with a third-degree felony of obstructing justice for lying to investigators. A superseding indictment charged 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. Another defendant, the lookout, identified Kidder as the driver who transported the two shooters and the lookout to the neighborhood where the shooting happened. Douglas was just 20 years old and was sitting on a porch with some friends in East Liverpool's east end on July 15, 2021 when the shooting occurred.
Holland was charged last year 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 2021 death and using a weapon when he was prohibited from having or using a gun due to a previous drug conviction.
Prosecutors identified him as the second shooter, with the first shooter identified as Elvin "EJ" Tisdale, 36, who's already serving a life sentence for his part in the murder after being sentenced in June 2025. A jury found him guilty of numerous charges, including aggravated murder.
Allen Tisdale, 26, Lisbon, was the lookout and was sentenced to at least 10 years in prison in July 2025 after testifying in the trial against EJ. He entered a guilty plea in May 2025 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 charged with aggravated murder and murder, but eventually told investigators what happened and agreed to testify as part of a plea deal.
Both Kidder and Holland remain jailed under $1 million cash or surety bonds. Family members for both Kidder and the victim, Douglas, were in the courtroom for the hearing before Bickerton.