An arrest has been made nearly a year after the homicide of Charles J. King.
Investigators with the Chattanooga Police Department's Violent Crimes Unit arrested Chester A. Phelps, 19, on Friday.
On June 25, 2014, Chattanooga police responding to a call of an unconscious person at 1400 Bennett Ave. found King, 41, in an SUV with a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
During the initial investigation, police discovered that Phelps was the last person to be seen with King just hours before his death, according to an affidavit obtained from the Hamilton County Jail. In a subsequent interview, Phelps allegedly made false statements to police about his whereabouts on the day King was killed.
The affidavit also says Phelps confessed to the killing to a party known to police, stating that he shot King in the head and providing details about the incident that only the perpetrator of the crime could know. Investigators said evidence found at the scene corroborated the explanation and sequence of events as told by Phelps. The party also described measures Phelps took to destroy evidence, including bleaching his hands and burning his clothes.
Phelps was charged with criminal homicide, tampering with evidence and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
His bond was set at $200,000.