CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A retired Cleveland police sergeant goes on trial today accused of aggravated murder in the shooting death of a 25-year-old relative last year.

Prosectors say Dale Edwards shot his nephew Antoine Graves after a confrontation over a broken furnace that was spewing dangerous levels of cabon monoxide into a home Graves rented from his great uncle. Graves wanted the problem fixed or the rent returned.

Edwards, however, contends that he shot Graves in self-defense after he was violently confronted near another rental property he owned on East 151st Street in Cleveland. Graves has a criminal record that includes convictions for drug trafficking and felonious assault.

The case it set to be tried before a jury in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Brendan Sheehan's courtroom.

On Oct. 10, Edwards called police to report the shooting and remained at the scene. Graves was taken to MetroHealth Medical Center, where he died a short time later.

Edwards has previously been in the news as a radio station owner, a bodyguard for boxer Mike Tyson and after he was indicted and then acquitted on a charge that the former narcotics officer had cocaine in this desk drawer.

City records show that Edwards retired from the department in 2004 after a career that began in 1977.

According to court records, Sgt. Robert Miller reported finding a small amount of cocaine in Edwards' desk drawer. Edwards contended that he was being framed. Three months later, a jury acquitted him of the charge.

Edwards spent years pursuing three civil lawsuits against Miller and other investigators for defamation and malicious prosecution. The last of the suits was dismissed in 1995. City records indicate Edwards received a settlement, but the amount was unclear.