Five-year-old boy calls 911 to report both parents have been shot and killed in Chattanooga

George Dillard, 24, was shot to death in his home at 2106 E. 13th Street around 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2016. Contributed photo

Lakita Hicks, 25, was shot to death in her home at 2106 E. 13th Street around 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2016. Contributed photo

Two people were shot to death at a home on E. 13th Street Sunday - and a five-year-old boy alerted authorities when he called 911 to say that his mother and father had been shot.

George Dillard, 24, and Lakita Hicks, 25, were both dead when police officers arrived shortly after 10:30 p.m. Sunday. Hicks' son, who has not been named, was unharmed. The relationship between Dillard and the boy is unclear.

Police do not have any suspect information but worked overnight to collect evidence in the case, spokesman Kyle Miller said. He urged anyone with information about the killings to call 698-2525.

Dillard was a validated gang member, police said Monday. But Chief Fred Fletcher said it's unclear whether the double-slaying was motivated by a particular gang fight. He declined to say which gang Dillard is a part of, but Times Free Press records show that Dillard was a member of the 52 Bloodstone Villians.

Fletcher would not say Monday how many times Dillard and Hicks were shot, whether there was evidence of forced entry at the home or which person was shot first. He said both victims were shot at least once.

The five-year-old boy seems to be the only witness to the slayings, Fletcher said. He said the boy was "very helpful" while on the phone with 911 dispatchers in coordinating the police response.

A neighbor said Dillard and Hicks had been together for a while and that they'd lived in the apartment at 2106 E. 13th Street for about two years.

"She seemed to be nice, not a real rowdy person," neighbor Coretha Higgins said about Hicks.

Dillard and Hicks are the second and third people to be killed in Chattanooga in 2016. Thomas Simmons, 20, was shot to death while walking on Sheridan Avenue on Jan. 25 in what police called a gang-related incident. Fletcher said Monday that police are checking into whether Sunday's killings are related to Simmons' death.

Two other people were shot this weekend in Chattanooga but survived. Sean Ware, 27, and Carolyn Harris, 44, were fired on after a dark-colored sedan pulled up on their right side at the intersection of Wilcox and North Holtzclaw, police said.

Both were taken to the hospital with wounds not considered to be life-threatening.