CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Two Shaker Heights men are charged with killing a man who was trying to return a lost cellphone.

Edward Lesure III, 33, and Eric Perry, 21, were indicted by a Cuyahoga County grand jury on a charge of aggravated murder Wednesday in the July 11 death of Joseph Carter, 49, of Cleveland.

Carter's friend Sandra Heard, 57, of Cleveland, who was with him when he was killed, said Carter hoped to get a $5 or $10 reward for returning the phone. She said she talked to Lesure about it while Carter waited nearby.

"I was negotiating for a finder's fee and he [Lesure] got all aggressive and kept saying 'Where's my phone?' and 'Who's got my phone?' I said my friend found it and wanted a recovery reward, like $5 or $10. He kept saying, 'I got a .45 for him.' "

Ryan Miday, spokesman for the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office, said Lesure shot and killed Carter and that Perry helped him.

Miday said Carter had found the phone earlier that day in front of a store around East 103rd Street and Union Avenue.

"The victim and friends were able to contact the owner by calling some of the phone numbers listed as 'contacts' in the phone," said Miday. "An arranged meeting time and location near the home of one of the victim's friends was set up to return the phone to the owner."

Heard said Carter stayed nearby during the meeting. She said she and another friend eventually walked away from Lesure because he frightened them. She said they planned to call Lesure from safety and arrange a way to safely return the phone by leaving it at another location.

But Carter walked up to the pair as they walked away, spurring Lesure into action, said Miday and Heard.

"He jumped onto the side of a truck [driven by Perry] and drove down the street until he saw us with Carter," Heard said. "He jumped off the truck, ran over to Carter and said, 'You the [expletive] with my phone?'

"Joe said he was and handed over the phone," Heard continued. "The guy snatched the phone from Joe with one hand and shot Joe in the chest with the other."

Miday said Carter collapsed in the driveway in the 3300 block of East 102nd Street. He was taken to MetroHealth Medical Center, but died shortly after arrival.

According to court records, Lesure was sentenced to six months in prison in October 2008, for a probation violation imposed after he pleaded guilty to theft in July 2007.

On June 21, Perry pleaded guilty to a charge of domestic violence and was given a six-month suspended sentence.

In the current case, Perry is scheduled for arraignment Aug. 1, and Lesure on Aug. 10.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: msangiacomo@plaind.com, 216-999-4890