Charges dropped against homicide suspect

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (WDEF) – The prime suspect in a murder case involving a woman whose body was discovered in a College Hill Courts Apartment is now a free man.

Thursday morning, Hamilton County Judge Lila Statom dismissed the homicide case against Bruce Stevens, 58, of Chattanooga. The case was dropped due to the lack of sufficient evidence.

“Those matters in session’s court were dismissed on the status of the evidence at this time,” said Assistant District Attorney Lance Pope.

Stevenson was accused of the April 15 murder of his girlfriend Rosa Chatman. She was found dead in her apartment while lying face down in a pool of her own blood. According to court document, she died the day before. Her throat was cut and her head suffered severe trauma.

Several family members told police she was in an abusive relationship with Stevenson. They didn’t hold back about how they felt when talking to reporters.

“The same thing that happened to her, I want him to get the same thing,” said one family member back on April 15.

According court document, Stevenson lied about not being in the apartment the day before her body was found but later admitted to police that he was there.

Stevenson may be a free man right now; thanks to lack of evidence, but prosecutors are already working on possibly bringing new charges against him.

“The investigation will continue into his involvement. There are items we are currently testing at through TBI. We’ll monitor the status of the testing of those items and determine if the case could move forward in the future,” Pope said.

Stevenson is no stranger to law enforcement. He’s a convicted rapist who was also convicted of attempted first degree murder back in the late 90’s.