Chattanooga police officers working a homicide scene on the Southside Sunday morning also dealt with another serious, but separate, incident when an alleged rape victim ran to them for help.
Officers were called to the 3200 block of Broad Street shortly before 4 a.m. where they found Lymorris Martin, 59, suffering from multiple stab wounds to the chest and arm, according to court records. He died on scene.
The suspect, Rachel Green, 51, and a witness were detained and an investigator determined she stabbed the victim after a brief, physical fight with him.
The investigator also concluded that Green's life was not in danger and she could have removed herself from the situation without resorting to deadly force - Martin was unarmed at the time of the incident.
Martin's death marked the 11th homicide in Chattanooga this year, keeping the city on pace to match or surpass last year's total of 32.
An hour after the stabbing, a barely-clothed woman ran to officers on the perimeter of the scene and told them she had just been raped nearby in a separate incident.
The victim said she was with her boyfriend, Ronnie Scott, 38, at an apartment complex when he got into a fight with an unknown person, according to court records. She told him she was going back to their apartment and he followed her.
She told officers she changed clothes to get into bed, but Scott told her he wanted to have sex. She said no and tried to go to sleep, she told officers, but Scott began to punch and slap her, repeatedly demanding sex.
During this fight, she fell to the floor but Scott picked her up and slammed her back onto the bed, ripped off her clothes and raped her, she told police. She tried to leave afterward, but Scott wouldn't let her leave until she was able to calm him down enough to escape and find the officers already on the stabbing scene.
Police noted bruising around her eyes as well as a knot on the right side of her head. It also was noted that her clothes were ripped and barely covering her.
The victim consented to a forensic exam and Scott was transported to the police services center, where he consented to an interview.
He said he had consensual sex with the woman and denied any assault had occurred. He also said he had no idea where the victim's injuries came from and alleged she had ripped her own gown open.
The suspects in both cases, Green and Scott, have been charged, respectively, with criminal homicide and rape.
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731. Follow him on Twitter @emmettgienapp.