The Cuyahoga County Justice Center in an undated photo. Credit: Tim Evanson
Two men have been formally charged for the murder of 21-year-old Brandon Cartellone, a student of the Cleveland Institute of Art who was killed in his Tremont apartment in July of 2011.

Dionte Davis, 36, and Do’Juan Nettles, 40, were indicted by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday for ten counts of crime, from murder, to kidnapping, to aggravated robbery and felonious assault. They were both arrested earlier this month, in Florida and California.

County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley charged Davis and Nettles a decade and a half after their alleged involvement in Cartellone’s death due to new DNA evidence that, a press release stated, connected the two to the crime on July 26, 2011.

“This indictment is the result of 14 years of tireless investigative efforts by law enforcement to hold Brandon’s killers accountable,” O’Malley wrote. “Their persistence proves that no matter how much time passes, we will never stop seeking justice for victims and their families.”

According to Cleveland Police and the prosecution, Davis and Nettle, then 22 and 26 at the time, drove to Cartellone’s apartment near the intersection of Professor and West 10th to buy marijuana. Inside, their plans changed: the two tied Cartellone up with belts and duct tape, beat him, robbed him and then left.

Around 1:30 a.m. on July 27, first responders declared Cartellone dead, shortly after his then-girlfriend discovered his body.

Both Davis and Nettles are being held at the county jail until their arraignment in court on August 5 at 8:30 a.m.

They are currently being held without bond, according to county records.

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This article appears in Cleveland SCENE 7/2/25.

Mark Oprea is a staff writer at Scene. He's covered Cleveland for the past decade, and has contributed to TIME, NPR, Narratively, the Pacific Standard and the Cleveland Magazine. He's the winner of two Press Club awards.