Nettles to face sentencing for 2011 Cartellone murder

Dojuan Nettles will be sentenced Wednesday in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas for the 2011 murder of Brandon Cartellone.

A jury found Nettles guilty of murder and kidnapping in October. His co-defendant, Dionte Davis, was acquitted. The trial began Oct. 5 and concluded with verdicts on Oct. 13.

Judge David Matia excluded certain evidence against Davis on Oct. 13. The excluded items were seized using an improper arrest warrant. The specific items included cell phones, a laptop, a memory stick, a book bag, and a water bottle.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley stated that Davis and Nettles entered Cartellone’s apartment near Professor Street and W. 10th Street to purchase marijuana. O’Malley said the two defendants tied Cartellone up with belts and duct tape. They assaulted him and robbed him before leaving the residence.

Cartellone, a 21-year-old student at the Cleveland Institute of Art, was found dead in his Tremont apartment on July 26, 2011. His then-girlfriend discovered him and called police. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner determined the cause of death was asphyxia from strangulation.

O’Malley noted that DNA testing linked the suspects to the crime after investigators from Cleveland Police, Ohio BCI, and the FBI continued the search for the killer. Davis, a resident of Michigan, was arrested in August 2025. Nettles, a resident of Florida, was arrested in July 2025.