Chattanooga sees more homicides and shootings this year amid record-high temperatures, less rain and gang disputes

gun tile handgun tile automatic weapon / Getty Images
gun tile handgun tile automatic weapon / Getty Images

Derrick Lewis was Chattanooga's 28th homicide victim.

He died Monday evening after being shot in the 4400 block of Fagan Street. Chattanooga police have not identified a suspect.

"Though I'm the oldest some how you talked to me like you were," a family member posted publicly to Facebook. "This not going in the right order. R.I.P Derrick LeBron Lewis."

So far, the city has seen 28 homicides - 12 more than it did by this time last year, according to police and Times Free Press records. At least eight cases remain open.

Last year, the city saw a drop in homicides from 30 in 2017 to 16 in 2018, excluding justified killings. But most of Chattanooga's homicides are gun-related. Only six of this year's killings were not by shooting.

And last year, the city saw a drastic decrease in shooting victims, too - excluding justified and accidental - from 138 in 2017 to 113 in 2018.

Several factors contributed to the drop in violence, police have said, including the department's "three-pillar approach" to combat violent crime through community policing, technology and "focused deterrence." Focused deterrence targets the few groups and individuals police say are driving violence while offering support to those looking for a way out.

Another factor is the start of the school year and weather. More hours of daylight and warmer, drier weather leads to more people being outside and interacting with each other, which can lead to a greater opportunity for conflict, police have said.

While 2018 was warm, it was a record-setting year for rainfall. However, nine of 11 months this year have been warmer than average in Chattanooga, according to the National Weather Service. And a summer drought brought four consecutive months of below-average rainfall.

July was the city's most violent month this year, with six homicides and 16 people injured.

Chattanooga Police Department Chief David Roddy has previously said that at least some of July's shootings were part of an ongoing gang dispute, though it's not clear to which ones he was referring.

(Read more: How much does gun violence cost the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee and the United States?)

The dispute dates back to 2016 and now is primarily between the Gangster Disciples and the Kemp Drive Posse - a neighborhood subset comprised of Skyline and Tree Top Pirus, and even some Gangster Disciples, as well, the Times Free Press has previously reported.

A Chattanooga city council member previously noted an increase in shootings since the release from jail of a high-ranking member of the Gangster Disciples. Neither she nor police confirmed who the gang member was, but she may have been referencing 25-year-old Antonio Watkins, who police say is a Gangster Disciple and was released on June 29.

Watkins and three others - Prandel Reid Jr., 25; Jamichael Smith, 26; and Gary Cross, 23 - were arrested on in early August in connection to the July 21 homicide of 28-year-old Tracy Calloway.

Watkins had been arrested earlier this year after a grand jury indicted him in connection to the attempted homicide of a 31-year-old woman in 2016. He had been released on a $95,000 bond on June 29 of this year, according to Hamilton County Criminal Court.

Calloway was killed on July 21.

The case was sent to the grand jury in mid-October. The grand jury will decide if there is enough evidence for a criminal indictment.

Watkins, Reid, Smith and Cross remain in the Hamilton County Jail.

As for the cases that have yet to be closed, Chattanooga police spokeswoman Elisa Myzal said, "Homicide investigators continue to work open homicide cases from this year as well as others from previous years. They've collected evidence, interviewed witnesses, reviewed video, but some cases still remain unsolved."

"We need help from community members, call the CPD Homicide Tip Line at 423-643-5100," she said. "No detail is too small and just that one bit of information could help investigators identify a suspect, provide some solace for a grieving family, and make our community safer."

Contact Rosana Hughes at rhughes@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327 with tips or story ideas. Follow her on Twitter @HughesRosana.

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