‘A Broken Vessel’ — Who was Martin Cotton, and what happened to him?
After high school, Fred got jobs in telemarketing and sales in the Sacramento area. He also designed business cards and logos for people, as well as tattoos. Then in his early 20s, something happened that compromised Fred’s mental health. Cotton isn’t exactly sure what caused what he believes was schizophrenia in his son, but he thinks it was triggered by a drink laced with drugs Fred was served in a Sacramento bar one night. Regardless, Fred’s life was altered irrevocably.
In April 2003, Cotton moved to Loleta. A year later, Fred relocated to Humboldt County as well. Cotton paid for his son to be put into an assisted living program in Eureka, but that only lasted a couple months. Fred was unhappy with the guys he was living with and the quarters were too close for comfort, Cotton said. So Fred tried living with his father for a while, but the kind of friends he brought around weren’t the type Cotton was comfortable with. Eventually, Fred was back on his own, but it was always understood, according to Cotton, that if he needed help out of a bad situation his dad was only a phone call away.
On Aug. 2, Martin Frederick Cotton II was arrested by the Eureka police and incarcerated for possession of a controlled substance. He was released from jail on Aug. 9 at 2:32 p.m. He made his way over to the Rescue Mission and eventually, after a confrontation with the EPD, ended up back in jail. But this time, it would be his last time behind bars. He was pronounced dead at 7:40 p.m., just one day after his father’s 50th birthday.
The soft-spoken Cotton didn’t cry when we spoke, though it was obvious some things were more difficult than others for him to talk about. When he saw his son’s body at the county morgue he remembers his bruised legs, back, neck and face as well as a gaping wound on Fred’s right hand.
“He was a broken vessel,” Cotton said. “I wish I could have been there to stop it.”
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