South Chattanooga stabbing death shocks neighbors

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2604 E. 44th St.

2604 E. 44th St.

Neighbors are shocked, but unsure of what happened to an 18-year-old man who died after he was found stabbed near a South Chattanooga home Sunday morning.

Officers were dispatched at 12:34 a.m. to 2604 E. 44th St., where Artemis Balthazar, 18, was found with multiple stab wounds, according to Chattanooga police. Balthazar was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.

The neighborhood was quiet Sunday afternoon. A bottle of rubbing alcohol sat at the top of the East 44th Street home's porch stairs.

Neighbor Nekita Daniels, 47, said two men, two women and a little girl live in the house next to hers, where Balthazar was found. Daniels said she didn't hear any commotion Sunday morning. She's not frightened because she is not sure what happened, she said.

"It would scare me if they were invaded or something," she said. "But if they're fighting with themselves, no."

James Ball, 27, another neighbor, said he hoped the police would pay better attention to the area.

"I don't think we're unsafe. I just don't think the police care because there are mostly poor people living out here," he said.

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