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Home > Blogs > Dayton Courts: Legal and crime news > Archives > 2010 > February > 03 > Entry
Gang member pleads to aggravated murder and other charges in slaying
DAYTON — An alleged gang member accused of killing a social worker during a September robbery attempt pleaded guilty Wednesday, Feb. 3, to aggravated murder.
Cordell Mitchell, Jr., 21, appeared before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Timothy O’Connell, who set sentencing for March 8. O’Connell told Mitchell that he faced a maximum of 70 and one half years in prison.
Mitchell pleaded guilty to all indicted charges in connection with the Sept. 7 death of Stephen Branham, including two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of possessing a firearm after a felony conviction. He also pleaded guilty to both indicted charges in connection with his Sept. 24 arrest: carrying a concealed weapon and possessing a firearm after a felony conviction.
Branham was “well-respected” and “comes from a good family,” assistant county prosecutor David Franceschelli said. “He was attacked before he could even get out of his vehicle.”
Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer said in September that Mitchell confessed to the crime and handed over what authorities believe is the murder weapon.
Mitchell was arrested Sept. 24 by deputies and the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force at 915 Steele Ave. in Dayton.
Police say Mitchell and another man tried to rob Branham near Branham’s residence in the 4300 block of Springcreek Drive in the early hours of Sept. 7.
Branham, a well-regarded social worker who facilitated classes on anger management for violent offenders, had just returned from a local club when Mitchell confronted him, Plummer said.
During the confrontation, Branham was shot twice, Plummer said.
Detectives at first ruled out robbery as a motive since Branham’s wallet and car keys were found near his body. But Plummer said — after his deputies interviewed Mitchell — that it appeared Branham was an innocent victim killed “for nothing.”
Mitchell, Plummer said, is a member of the Balla Boy Mafia, a small gang with ties to the Dayton View Hustlers, which has emerged in the last year as the most violent gang in the area.
Mitchell has a violent criminal past that includes a felonious assault with a deadly weapon conviction in April 2007, court records show. He was released from prison in December 2008 after serving a two-year sentence for the crime.
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