Family questions if justice served as 2019 murder suspect receives sentence

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- On September 12, 2019, 20-year-old Darrell Hill was murdered during the commission of a robbery in Cromwell Hills.

Thursday, the last suspect in that case faced his sentencing hearing.

The family of Darrell Hill say they’ve been seeking justice for nearly five years.

Photo of Darrell Hill, who was murdered on September 12, 2019 in the Cromwell Hills neighborhood of Chattanooga. (Courtesy: Solomon Byrd)

On Thursday, they got the chance to emotionally plead their case to get Dezmond Alexander behind bars for as long as possible. 

Hill’s grandmother, Patrica Hill, told the court of Hamilton County Judge Amanda Dunn, “He wasn’t nothing but a big kid at heart. He didn’t mean no harm to nobody.”

There was an moment of explosive emotion when Hill’s mother got upset over an argument made by Alexander’s defense attorney, who was trying to mitigate his sentence.

She told the court, “He killed my (expletive) child! He’s going to say it don’t mean, he mean a (expletive) lot to me. You old (expletive), both of y’all!”

Dezmond Alexander pled guilty to second degree murder after accepting a plea deal and will spend 22 years in prison.

He had been previously charged with first degree murder.

He gave an apology to the family.

Alexander said, “I am sorry for y’all loss. I did not want or expect things to go down like that, that was not my intention.”

He mentioned having numerous mental illness due to abuse he suffered as a child.

Judge Dunn says the story is an example of why gun violence in our community is so prevalent.

She said, “I think that Mr. Alexander is a prime example of what happens when parents choose not to parent their child.”

Even with Thursday’s sentencing, Hill’s grandfather, Sherman Boyd, believes justice has not been served.

A co-defendant, James Holmes-Hamilton, is currently serving a four year prison sentence, and two other juvenile female defendants had their cases dismissed in November.

Boyd said, “When you break it down between five people, you break it down and divide that up, he’s doing time for all of them. It comes out to what, 4-5 years a piece? Yeah, that’s bad.”

However, he acknowledges it is time for the family to pick up the pieces.

Boyd said, “You never move forward from it, you’re stuck with it, you just live it. You know, you just pray to God, stay strong, and live with it.”

Alexander will serve those 22 years in a Tennessee State Prison.

If he serves every single minute of that sentence, he will be in his 40s when he is released.