CINCINNATI -- A woman was arrested Wednesday and charged with abuse of a corpse after abandoning the remains of an overdose victim, according to court documents.
When Cassidi Cowans saw that Ryan Wood had overdosed on heroin while spending time with her, police said her immediate response was to administer Narcan. That proved unsuccessful, so she she attempted CPR. It was equally fruitless.
According to an affidavit, she told police she then put Wood’s body in her car and intended to drive him to the hospital, but discovered that the road was blocked due to an unrelated fatal crash.
It was at that point, police said, that Cowans pulled into an apartment complex parking lot and pushed Wood’s body out of her car.
She left it lying on the side of the road while she called police and used a false name to tell them about the location of the body, the affidavit stated.
Abuse of a corpse is a fifth-degree felony under Ohio law. If convicted, Cowans could spend up to a year in prison.
