HCDA
  HCDA
  • Home
    • Attorney Access
  • Office
    • Meet General Pinkston
    • Staff Directory
    • Office History
    • Hiring Info
    • Internships
  • TARGET
    • Injunctions
    • Nuisance Properties
    • BULLSEYE
  • Cold Case Unit
    • CCU Staff
    • Cases by Year
    • Cases by Name
  • Victims
    • Victim Witness Support
    • Going to Court
    • Resources
    • Victim Witness Handbook
  • Newsroom
    • Press Releases
    • High Profile Cases
    • Media Coverage
    • For the Record
    • Links
  • Home
    • Attorney Access
  • Office
    • Meet General Pinkston
    • Staff Directory
    • Office History
    • Hiring Info
    • Internships
  • TARGET
    • Injunctions
    • Nuisance Properties
    • BULLSEYE
  • Cold Case Unit
    • CCU Staff
    • Cases by Year
    • Cases by Name
  • Victims
    • Victim Witness Support
    • Going to Court
    • Resources
    • Victim Witness Handbook
  • Newsroom
    • Press Releases
    • High Profile Cases
    • Media Coverage
    • For the Record
    • Links

LEON HICKS
Picture
Picture
Leon Hicks with his son Michael
Picture
Harry Brooks Daniels
Picture
Cold Case Unit Leader Mike Mathis & District Attorney Neal Pinkston talking with media about Leon Hicks case
Picture

​​​59-year Leon Hicks, co-owner of Hicks Brothers Restaurant at 1501 East 23rd Street, finished work the evening of March 10, 1972. As part of his normal routine, Hicks took his teenage dishwasher home, dropped his girlfriend at her house, and then went to his residence at a trailer park on South Holly Street. 


Sometime after 2:00am on March 11, 1972, neighbor Ray Gorrell heard gunshots and went to investigate. He found Leon Hicks lying dead at the foot of the steps to Hicks’ trailer. Hicks had been shot three times. 

Evidence recovered at the murder scene included three .38 projectiles and a fedora hat. 

Initially, the investigation revealed no known suspects. 

In late March 1972, the Chattanooga FBI Office received information from the US District Attorney’s Office in Atlanta leading to the identity of suspect Harry Brooks Daniels, white male, DOB 12/29/1910. 

Daniels was a career criminal who lived in Atlanta but frequented Chattanooga. In the months prior to Hicks’ murder, Daniels had robbed several Chattanooga restaurants and taverns, including the popular Black Angus. 

Numerous people reported Daniels bragged about killing Hicks and showed them a gunshot wound he claimed he received during the struggle with the tavern owner.

In April 1972, police executed a search warrant of Daniels’ Atlanta apartment. They recovered a pair of bloodstained shorts, five (5) fedora hats of the same size as the one collected from the murder scene and various medical supplies indicative of ongoing treatment for a gunshot wound. 

Harry Brooks Daniels was brought to Chattanooga and indicted on the Black Angus armed robbery. But the murder investigation stalled. 

Recent Developments

In March 2015, the DA’s Cold Case Unit requested Chattanooga Police files on two known cold cases. In the bottom of one of the boxes we found a dirty, moldy old satchel. The 1972 Leon Hicks file was discovered inside the satchel. 

Defense attorney Jerry Summers provided invaluable assistance to this unit in securing the cooperation of a key witness who corroborated much of the information found in the file. The name of the witness will not be released. He agreed to speak with us only on the condition his personal identifying information be kept confidential. 

Based on a thorough review of the evidence, it is the conclusion of District Attorney Neal Pinkston and the Cold Case Unit that if the individuals involved in the original investigation, including suspect Harry Brooks Daniels, were alive today, Daniels would be prosecuted for the murder of Leon Hicks. 

As a result, Chattanooga Police will be closing this case as “exceptionally cleared” due to the death of the defendant.  


Original Investigating Agency: Chattanooga Police Department

If you have information on a cold case, please use the form below or call the cold case hotline:
423-209-7470

    COLD CASE COMMENT

    We understand you may not feel comfortable providing your identity or any contact information and we respect your privacy. 
    If you do not feel comfortable providing your name, please leave a way for us to contact you in case we need to ask for additional details. 
    Your contact information will only be seen by members of the District Attorney's Cold Case Unit unless you give your express consent for it to be shared with other law enforcement agencies.
    Your contact information will never be sold. 
Submit
About Our Office
DA Pinkston Bio
Staff Directory

Office History
​Job Opportunities

TARGET
​Injunctions
​Nuisance Properties
​BULLSEYE Outreach
Cold Case Unit
Give Us a TIp
CCU Staff
Cold Cases by Year
Cold Cases by Name

Victims & Families
Support
Going to Court
​Resources

Handbook
Newsroom
Press Releases
Covering Court
High Profile Cases
Media Coverage
For the Record


Internships
Expungements
​Links
Picture
600 MARKET STREET
SUITE 310
CHATTANOOGA, TN 37402
(423) 209-7400



​

Contact Us