Deonte Alexander, 38, a male from Cleveland, was found mortally wounded just after 1 p.m. on August 13, 2025, near West 73rd Street and Clark Avenue on the city's West Side. Responding officers arrived on a Code 1 “unknown trouble” call and discovered him with a gunshot wound; lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner later identified him and confirmed the date of death.
Funeral notices published by his family's funeral home and memorial listings corroborated his identity and age.
As patrol units secured the block and canvassed for witnesses, other officers received a suspect description and began searching the surrounding streets and alleys. Within blocks of the homicide, they encountered a man matching that description who was armed with a firearm. During the confrontation, an officer discharged a service weapon, striking the suspect, who was transported to a hospital in stable condition. The involved officer was uninjured and, per department protocol, was placed on paid administrative leave while the Force Investigation Team reviewed the incident.
By Friday, August 15, police publicly identified the suspect as 49-year-old Sterling Pettway and announced that he had been charged with murder in Alexander's killing as well as felonious assault on a police officer stemming from the armed encounter after the shooting. After treatment, Pettway was released from the hospital and booked into the Cuyahoga County Jail; a grand jury review was noted in subsequent reporting. Authorities did not immediately state a motive, and investigators continued to gather evidence and interview witnesses.
In the days that followed, obituary and memorial pages marked Alexander's passing and listed funeral and visitation plans through Strowder's Funeral Home in Cleveland, underscoring the loss felt by family and friends. While community tributes honored his memory, police said the case remained active, with detectives tracing the events that led to the deadly encounter on West 73rd and Clark.
