Hamilton County Sheriff's Office / Jarvis SuggsA Chattanooga man accused of killing his brother on New Year's Eve is in jail on a $300,000 bond, following his first appearance in court Thursday.
Jarvis Suggs, 23, faces a charge of criminal homicide.
Witnesses told police they saw Suggs shoot his brother, 28-year-old Gregory Suggs, multiple times around 11:30 p.m. Dec. 31. Gregory Suggs was pronounced dead early the next day, after being taken to Erlanger.
Judge Larry Ables ordered Jarvis Suggs' bond be set at $300,000 after a prosecutor requested $400,000 and Suggs' public defender asked the court for a bond "as low as reasonably possible."
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If Suggs can post bond -- which would require a $30,000, or 10%, payment -- he will be required to stay with family on house arrest and wear a GPS-tracking ankle monitor, Ables ruled Thursday. Suggs would also be prohibited from owning weapons during that time.
Since going to jail early Sunday morning, Suggs has been "incredibly grief-stricken" and was temporarily put on suicide watch, public defender Victoria Clark told the judge.
A police report said witnesses saw Suggs pull a pistol from his jacket after arguing with his brother at a home on Highland Avenue. They told investigators Suggs could be heard apologizing to his brother after shooting him.
According to the affidavit, Suggs told investigators he "blacks out" when angry, and couldn't remember the shooting.
"When asked what he was mad about he initially stated he does not remember," the affidavit states. "Later in the interview, Suggs stated that he was angry with his brother but did not remember why and that it was probably him who shot his brother but that he does not remember."
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Suggs appears to have no criminal history in Hamilton County, a prosecutor said Thursday, but the state advocated for a higher bond based on the seriousness of the charge.
Suggs appeared in Hamilton County General Sessions Court, but did not speak to Ables himself besides confirming his age. After his bond was issued, Suggs exchanged waves with family members who came to the hearing.
Clark, the public defender, told the judge Suggs had requested to waive his preliminary hearing so his family didn't have to deal with that while grieving and planning a funeral for his brother -- a request she said she found "insightful."
"I wish he would have been as insightful before," Ables said, "and we wouldn't be here."
The state brought a Chattanooga detective and two people who witnessed the shooting to Thursday's hearing, hoping they could testify to establish probable cause for the homicide charge, but Ables declined to hear them speak.
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Typically, a magistrate judge would have already set Suggs' bond when he was booked into Silverdale Detention Center, but Ables indicated the magistrate had deferred that decision to the court. Ables said he didn't want to start the practice of holding bond hearings when he has the ability to decide himself based solely on court filings.
"In the normal course of things, that's how bonds are set, not any testimony or anything like that absent the necessity to hear from somebody," Ables said.
Now, Suggs' case will move to criminal court.
The homicide was the 25th and last reported in Chattanooga in 2022, compared to 33 in 2021, according to Police Department data.
Contact Ellen Gerst at egerst@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6319.