Taja Whiteside / Contributed photo by Akedus HamiltonA woman who was found dead in her Hixson home on Jan. 11 was strangled to death, according to a Hamilton County Medical Examiner's report released Tuesday.
Police responded to the home in the 5800 block of Moody Sawyer Road and found 30-year-old Taja Whiteside dead on a bedroom floor. Her son had called police.
Investigators couldn't initially determine a cause of death, but after a conversation with the medical examiner, Whiteside's death was ruled a homicide on Jan. 17.
Whiteside sustained blunt-force head injuries, but the cause of death was determined to be manual strangulation, according to the report.
Chattanooga police have not released any suspect information, but in a document posted to Facebook by a citizen on Jan. 16, Chattanooga police identify Kameron Leslie, 30, as a person of interest.
In the document, which was initially meant for law enforcement use only, Leslie is described as armed and dangerous. He was believed to be in possession of Whiteside's vehicle and her cellphone. Police warned other officers to treat Leslie's person and the vehicle "as a crime scene," though the document stresses that Leslie is only wanted for questioning.
"Wanted for questioning" simply means investigators need to speak with the person regarding a case, police spokeswoman Elisa Myzal said in an email.
Leslie is described as "armed and dangerous" because of prior violent charges, she said.
Leslie was previously charged with domestic assault against Whiteside in Greene County, Tennessee, on Nov. 24, according to Greene County court records.
In that incident, the couple was visiting Whiteside's parents in Greeneville, Tennessee, when the two got into an argument, a criminal affidavit states.
It escalated and he punched her in the face, she told police. He then left on foot.
She went back inside, but 10-20 minutes later, she heard glass shatter outside, the affidavit states.
A concrete block had been thrown through her vehicle's front passenger-side window.
Whiteside told police it wasn't the first time Leslie had assaulted her. He choked her a few days earlier, she told police, but she didn't report it.
Whiteside declined medical treatment and decided to stay at her parents' house for safety.
Leslie then called police asking for a ride to a bus stop, the affidavit states. Police instead took him into custody and charged him with domestic assault and vandalism.
He was booked into the Greene County Detention Center where his bond was set at $500.
Those charges were dismissed on Jan. 7, according to court records. Authorities couldn't locate Whiteside to appear in court that day, the Citizen Tribune reported.
Whiteside had recently moved to Chattanooga from Greeneville with her three children, her cousin Akedus Hamilton previously told the Times Free Press.
She was a nurse and was set to get a promotion the same day she was killed, Hamilton said.
Whiteside's death was the city's first homicide of 2019. It came 14 days earlier than 2018's first homicide.
Police ask anyone with information about this incident to call the Homicide Tip Line at 423-643-5100. Callers can remain anonymous.
Contact staff writer Rosana Hughes at rhughes@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327 with tips or story ideas. Follow her on Twitter @Hughes Rosana.