Two men who prosecutors say put a $30,000 bounty on a victim are among four suspects charged in a killing that happened almost a decade ago.
Brandon Webster, 33, and Romello Stephen Wheeler, 30, are accused of offering $30,000 for the killing of Kareem Howell in 2016.
According to the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office, Charlie Dailey, 29, and Darius Holley, 32, led Howell to a wooded area in Westwood and fatally shot him.
Howell was targeted, prosecutors say, because he was involved in at least one home invasion and robbery where Webster’s mother was terrorized.
After the Dailey and Holley presented proof of the killing, Webster and Wheeler paid the bounty, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Three of the four men were in custody when they were indicted Oct. 23 by a Hamilton County grand jury on multiple charges connected to the killing of Howell.
Wheeler is in a federal prison, serving a 12-year sentence for drug trafficking. Federal prosecutors have described him as a “career drug trafficker” who along with his father, used a luxury apartment in Pendleton to store drugs and conduct drug transactions.
Dailey, who has previous drug trafficking convictions, has been in the Hamilton County Justice Center since October 2022 after he was charged in connection with a killing from the summer of that year.
Holley is in a state prison serving one and a half years for drug and gun convictions.
A warrant has been issued for Webster’s arrest, records show.
All four face charges including aggravated murder.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 4 men charged in cold case killing officials say involved $30,000 bounty
Reporting by Kevin Grasha, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
