54 ATHENS PARK BLOODS GANG MEMBERS INDICTED FOR RACKETEERING;
STATE RICO CASE INCLUDES CHARGES FOR FIVE MURDERS
This week the Hamilton County Grand Jury handed down a thirteen count indictment charging more than four dozen Athens Park Bloods gang members with violating the state’s Racketeering Influence and Conspiracy Organization (RICO) Act. The indictment also charges seven of those defendants in five homicides, including the kidnapping and murder of Bianca Horton.
Approximately half of the fifty-four defendants are incarcerated on previous charges. This morning, officers and agents of the Chattanooga Police Department, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Chattanooga Housing Authority Police Department,
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and United States Marshals Service arrested the remaining defendants without incident.
Several months ago, District Attorney General Neal Pinkston offered Chattanooga Police Chief David Roddy use of the DA’s Cold Case Unit to review a string of unsolved homicides, which included the 2016 Horton case.
As the investigation grew, Chief Roddy assigned an additional CPD investigator to the Cold Case Unit. The DA’s Tactical All-Region Gang Enforcement Team (TARGET), which is comprised of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, worked in partnership with the CCU. This significant level of manpower and intelligence sharing allowed the DA to seek and secure the indictment of fifty-four APB members and associates on charges of racketeering and conspiracy. Additionally, the following APB members are charged with murder:
This is the first time a criminal street gang in Hamilton County is being prosecuted as a criminal enterprise under the state’s RICO law. In 2012, the Tennessee General Assembly expanded T.C.A. § 39-12-201 et seq, to include criminal gang offenses as racketeering activity. Hamilton County Criminal Court Clerk Vince Dean, who was a state representative at the time, sponsored the bill and it was co-sponsored by Senator Bo Watson.
DA Pinkston is grateful to Chief Roddy and Sheriff Hammond for their continued confidence in the Cold Case Unit and for their willingness to sacrifice investigators to support this unique effort to make our community safer.
A list of the fifty-four defendants, with bond amounts, is attached here. Reminder: An indictment contains allegations of criminal activity; it is not a finding of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
DA’s Cold Case Unit
District Attorney General Neal Pinkston created the Cold Case Unit upon taking office in September 2014 to review the 200 unsolved homicides and missing persons cases in Hamilton County. The Unit is led by retired CPD Captain Mike Mathis. Chattanooga Police Chief David Roddy and Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond each provide an investigator to the unit. If you have information about any cold case, please contact us using the Cold Case Hotline at 423-209-7470 or by email at coldcases@hctnda.org.
TARGET
In early 2016, District Attorney General Neal Pinkston responded to citizen complaints about gang related crimes by creating a multi-agency team to target street gangs. The Tactical All-Region Gang Enforcement Team (TARGET) is a joint effort of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies working together to reduce gang related crime in the Chattanooga area while cutting the numbers of illegal guns and drugs on our streets. Retired DEA Resident Special Agent in Charge Ben Scott coordinates TARGET operations.
Approximately half of the fifty-four defendants are incarcerated on previous charges. This morning, officers and agents of the Chattanooga Police Department, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Chattanooga Housing Authority Police Department,
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and United States Marshals Service arrested the remaining defendants without incident.
Several months ago, District Attorney General Neal Pinkston offered Chattanooga Police Chief David Roddy use of the DA’s Cold Case Unit to review a string of unsolved homicides, which included the 2016 Horton case.
As the investigation grew, Chief Roddy assigned an additional CPD investigator to the Cold Case Unit. The DA’s Tactical All-Region Gang Enforcement Team (TARGET), which is comprised of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, worked in partnership with the CCU. This significant level of manpower and intelligence sharing allowed the DA to seek and secure the indictment of fifty-four APB members and associates on charges of racketeering and conspiracy. Additionally, the following APB members are charged with murder:
- Cortez Sims for the January 20, 2014 murder of 13-year old Deontray Southers\
- Cordelle Collier, Martrel Arnold, and Johnny Clemons for the June 25, 2014 murder of Cedric Mikes.
- Andre Grier, Charles Shelton, and Courtney High, who each could face the death penalty for the May 25, 2016 murder of Bianca Horton. Horton was killed to prevent her from testifying at trial that she witnessed Cortez Sims murder Talitha Bowman.
- Courtney High for the June 12, 2016 murder of Jerica Jackson. This is a superseding indictment to High’s original charge, which adds the RICO elements to the murder.
- Courtney High for the August 16, 2016 murder of Marquise Jackson. Additionally, a female teenager will be charged in Hamilton County Juvenile Court for participating in Jackson’s murder.
This is the first time a criminal street gang in Hamilton County is being prosecuted as a criminal enterprise under the state’s RICO law. In 2012, the Tennessee General Assembly expanded T.C.A. § 39-12-201 et seq, to include criminal gang offenses as racketeering activity. Hamilton County Criminal Court Clerk Vince Dean, who was a state representative at the time, sponsored the bill and it was co-sponsored by Senator Bo Watson.
DA Pinkston is grateful to Chief Roddy and Sheriff Hammond for their continued confidence in the Cold Case Unit and for their willingness to sacrifice investigators to support this unique effort to make our community safer.
A list of the fifty-four defendants, with bond amounts, is attached here. Reminder: An indictment contains allegations of criminal activity; it is not a finding of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
DA’s Cold Case Unit
District Attorney General Neal Pinkston created the Cold Case Unit upon taking office in September 2014 to review the 200 unsolved homicides and missing persons cases in Hamilton County. The Unit is led by retired CPD Captain Mike Mathis. Chattanooga Police Chief David Roddy and Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond each provide an investigator to the unit. If you have information about any cold case, please contact us using the Cold Case Hotline at 423-209-7470 or by email at coldcases@hctnda.org.
TARGET
In early 2016, District Attorney General Neal Pinkston responded to citizen complaints about gang related crimes by creating a multi-agency team to target street gangs. The Tactical All-Region Gang Enforcement Team (TARGET) is a joint effort of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies working together to reduce gang related crime in the Chattanooga area while cutting the numbers of illegal guns and drugs on our streets. Retired DEA Resident Special Agent in Charge Ben Scott coordinates TARGET operations.
