Five Months of Meticulous Investigation Leads to Arrests in the January Murder of Fisk Student Andre Bell

Five months of meticulous investigation into the January 11 fatal shooting of Fisk University student Andre Bell, 20, on I-65 north at the I-40 east junction has led to this afternoon's arrests of two 18-year-olds in Murfreesboro on multiple criminal charges, including first-degree murder.

TITANS Unit detectives arrested Brayden Carter during a vehicle jam just after he left his Melodic Way home in Murfreesboro. A pistol was found in the car. Carter's co-defendant, Damarion Coleman, was arrested by Murfreesboro Police SWAT officers at his Chelanie Circle residence.

On the night of Sunday, January 11, Bell, a member of Fisk's basketball team, was driving with two teammates back to campus from a university gymnastics event at the Nashville fairgrounds in his white Nissan Sentra. The two friends reported noticing a dark sedan in the left lane beside them. Multiple rounds were fired from that car. Bell suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head.

The investigation, led by Detective Joshua Belk, indicates that the motive for the gunfire was jealousy. Carter's girlfriend was a member of the gymnastics team. It has been reported that he did not like other young men talking to her. Carter and Coleman are alleged to have been at the fairgrounds that January night and followed Bell and his two teammates with the intent of scaring the basketball team to stay away from the girlfriend. Extensive cellphone data analysis contributed to this investigation.

Carter is facing a grand jury indictment charging him with first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, and three counts of using a gun in the commission of a dangerous felony. A Criminal Court judge has set his bond at $250,000.

Coleman, who was 17 at the time, is facing the same charges in Davidson County Juvenile Court. He will be held pending a detention hearing.