Read about homicides in North Georgia
The 20 homicides Chattanooga police detectives worked this year are one more than in 2009 and right at the 10-year average for annual homicides.
Seven of the 20 cases have not resulted in an arrest. One is what police have called a "suicide by cop."
The shooting death of Andrew Carr - who charged police with a revolver while shouting "suicide by cop" - and the accidental shooting of 2-year-old Camron Wallace by her 5-year-old brother were listed as criminal homicides.
But police said they don't fit the typical public understanding of a homicide as one that results in murder or manslaughter charges.
Tennessee law defines criminal homicide as "the unlawful killing of another person" and names varying degrees of severity, from first- and second-degree murder to voluntary manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide or vehicular homicide.
Of the remaining five open cases, detectives say three have "very promising leads" and two are proving more difficult.
Investigators are frustrated over lack of progress in solving the July 2 shooting death of Antonio Taylor at 3838 Juandale Trail and the Oct. 27 beating and stabbing death of Chandra Powell at her apartment at 4417 Oakwood Drive, said Sgt. Bill Phillips with the homicide division.
Much of the evidence in the Powell investigation still is being processed by the state crime lab, he said, and no witnesses have come forward in that case or the Taylor death, he said.
Those cases aside, the department has cleared by arrest 65 percent of their homicide investigations this year, said Assistant Police Chief Tim Carroll, who headed the major crimes division before being promoted last summer.
The FBI reports the national homicide clearance rate has fallen steadily from nearly 80 percent in 1976 to 64 percent in 2008, but Chattanooga's homicide clearance rate has hovered near 90 percent during that time, Carroll said.
Though each homicide is a tragedy for families and communities, Carroll said the overall number of deaths is considerably lower than in the late 1980s and early 1990s when crack-cocaine and its associated violent crimes reached Chattanooga. He recalled one year in which there were 49 reported homicides. Newspaper archives show that was in 1991.
"Nobody went home much" that year, he said.
Three of this year's deaths were related to domestic violence, one to child abuse and at least three had verified gang connections, though Phillips said police suspect that many others had gang ties.
Below is a chronological summary of the 2010 homicides and updates to status within the courts system, if an arrest has been made.
2010 HOMICIDES
• Jan. 2 - Police find the body of Jimmy Yearby, 40, in the middle of Sanders Road, dead of a gunshot wound to the head. Police have made no arrests.
• Jan. 6 - Marie Oliver, 27, is killed while being dragged under her boyfriend's truck. John Thomas White, 36, has been charged with second-degree murder. His next court date is scheduled for Tuesday before Criminal Court Judge Don Poole. He remained in custody as of Thursday.
• Jan. 9 - Jonathan Lawrence, 42, is shot while pumping gas at the Kanku's convenience store at 3440 Wilcox Blvd. Police charge Montez Davis, 19, with first-degree murder. Davis is scheduled for a Jan. 25 trial in Criminal Court before Judge Barry Steelman. Davis has been released on bond.
• Feb. 27 - Terrance Etchison, 27, is shot at the Kanku's at 3440 Wilcox Blvd. Police charge Jamaal Byrd, 29, with first-degree murder. Byrd's next scheduled court appearance is before Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern on Feb. 10.
• April 4 - Jeryl Y. Hudson, 55, is shot in the head while riding in a Ford Taurus by someone in a white, four-door sedan. Police have not made any arrests in the case.
• April 8 - Timmy Nichols, 50, is shot in the chest on the corner of Main and Willow streets. Police charge Quinisha Brabson with second-degree murder. She remained in custody as of Thursday and has an appearance scheduled before Stern on Jan. 11.
• April 29 - Michael Johnson, 20, is shot in the head while sitting on the porch of 2138 E. 27th St. and dies later. Police have made no arrests.
• May 1 - Jaylen James Ramsey, 3, dies from what a medical examiner ruled was "blunt force abdominal trauma." His father, Reginald Tumlin, 31, is charged with felony murder. Tumlin was in custody Thursday and is scheduled to appear before Stern on Jan. 11.
• June 17 - Michael Newby, 24, is shot in the head at his 1246 N. Concord Road home. Police charge Andrew Graves, 23, with voluntary manslaughter. His next court appearance is scheduled Jan. 25 before Poole.
• June 29 - Bernard Hughes, 46, is shot in the head at 4417 Oakwood Drive. Police arrest Unjolee Moore, 24, Harold Butler III, 30, and John Simpson, 29. All three cases were sent the Hamilton County grand jury. As of Thursday, only Moore's charge of attempted first-degree murder was listed among Criminal Court records. His next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday in Poole's courtroom.
• June 29 - Andrew Carr, 29, charges Chattanooga police officers during a stand-off at his 807 Graysville Road home while screaming "suicide by cop." He is shot by police.
• July 2 - Antonio Taylor, 28, is shot in the head at 3838 Juandale Trail. Taylor died the next day. No arrest has been made.
• July 4 - Jerome Timmons, 31, is shot in the head following a fight on Glass Street. Police charge Jamaul Herman, 27, with first-degree murder. As of Thursday, Herman was in custody and is scheduled to appear before Stern on Jan. 12.
• July 12 - Camron Wallace, 2, is shot when her brother accidentally fires a loaded pistol that the children found at their parents' bedside. The parents, Thomas and Samantha Wallace, are later charged with criminally negligent homicide. The Wallaces are scheduled to appear before Stern on Feb. 8.
• Sept. 7 - Police find Shannon Wiser, 31, beaten at her 3531 Sleepy Hollow Road home in Hixson; she died five days later. Her husband, John Wiser, 27, is charged with first-degree murder. He remained in jail as of Thursday and is scheduled to appear in Stern's courtroom Wednesday.
• Sept. 9 - Chance LeCroy, 21, is shot by two men who broke into his 1211 Johnston Terrace home in Hixson. No arrests have been made.
• Oct. 10 - Pastor David H. Strong's body is found at his 404 Glenwood Drive home. Police suspect he was killed five days earlier. Officers charge Antonio Henry, 25, and his 16-year-old cousin Brendan Barnes with felony murder. Henry's case was presented to the grand jury Dec. 30. Barnes is scheduled for a transfer hearing from juvenile court to adult court Thursday.
• Oct. 27 - Her children find 35-year-old Chandra Powell in her 4417 Oakwood Drive apartment, beaten and stabbed at least seven times. No arrests have been made.
• Nov. 19 - Jermichael Richardson, 22, is shot outside a home at 4800 Pawnee Trail. Police arrest 18-year-old Devante Stoudemire, who appeared Dec. 14 in Hamilton County General Sessions Court. His case was sent to the grand jury.
• Dec. 27 - Ricky Shell, 34, is shot twice in the abdomen by 74-year-old Alfred Copeland. Copeland is charged with criminal homicide and released on bond the following day. Copeland is scheduled for a General Sessions Court appearance Monday.