Killing solved, but suspect also homicide victim

After Chattanooga police came up with a suspect in last year's fatal shooting of a 20-year-old man, they couldn't arrest him, even though they knew where he was.

That's because Cornelius Williams, 31, also was dead, another homicide victim.

Roy Sturdivant was shot twice on Dec. 11, 2008, in the driveway outside his Foust Street home. Police initially had no suspect, though they were looking for a midsized, white vehicle.

"That was one of those drive-bys where we didn't know what happened," said Lt. Tim Carroll, head of the Chattanooga Police Department major crimes division.

But witness statements and ballistic evidence connected the incident to Mr. Williams, Lt. Carroll said. By that time, though, Mr. Williams already was dead, shot twice on Jan. 2 and dying more than a month later on Feb. 6.

Mr. Sturdivant's grandmother declined comment when reached by phone. No one answered the phone at 1913 Foust St., his mother's listed address and where Mr. Sturdivant's residence when he died.

One bullet taken from Mr. Sturdivant's body matched a gun later used by Mr. Williams in another incident, homicide investigator Justin Kilgore said. Because another case is connected to Mr. Williams' death, Investigator Kilgore declined to say how Mr. Williams' gun was found or what he used it for.

"But the gun and the bullet aren't the only two things," he said. "People came forward and said they were present when Mr. Sturdivant was killed, Cornelius Williams being one of (the people present)."

Mr. Williams had gunshot wounds to his upper left torso and abdomen when police found him just before midnight on Jan. 2 in the 3900 block of Wilsonia Avenue. The shooting occurred after an altercation with another man, police said.

Aaron Moses has been arrested in connection with that shooting, according to Times Free Press archives.

There is no indication that Mr. Williams was killed because of his connection to Mr. Sturdivant's killing, Investigator Kilgore said.