Murder Victim’s Family Believes Justice was not Served in 2019 Murder

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

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- One grandfather says he is frustrated with the Hamilton County legal system after he says his murdered grandson did not get the justice he deserved.

On September 12, 2019, 20 year old Darrel Hill was murdered in the Cromwell Hills neighborhood.

Four juveniles were subsequently arrested in connection to his murder.

However, the conclusion to some of these cases are leaving a sour taste in the mouth of Hill’s family.

Hill’s grandfather, Solomon Byrd:, said, “Well he was a good fun person. He had his moments, good to be around. He would kid and cut up a whole lot.”

For Byrd and other relatives, there is still pain associated with the murder of his grandson Darrel Hill.

Byrd said, “It was a bad situation for the family, and we’ve been looking at this thing for four years.”

However, they say recent developments in the case have left them unsatisfied, as the grandfather says two juvenile female defendants had their charges dismissed.

Additionally, one of the defendants, James Holmes-Hamilton, only pleaded guilty to second degree murder and will only spend four years in prison according to court records.

A now adult defendant, Dezmond Alexander, is still in the Hamilton County Jail on first degree murder and especially aggravated robbery, and is due in court in January.

Byrd, who says he is 77 years old, says he’s concerned about the state of juvenile court system and how it’s impacting youth.

Byrd said, “The system is broken, if they don’t know by now. Judge Philyaw made a statement talking about rehabilitating these kids, well when it comes to murder, that’s a hell of a long way to go talking about rehabilitating.”

Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp issued a statement in response to the criticism from Hill’s family.

“I cannot comment on juvenile proceedings. I can, however, brag on my office. The case in which Darrell Hill was a victim is a tough case in terms of evidentiary issues. It was a drug deal gone bad… a case in which a jury could have assigned some responsibility to Mr. Hill. Nonetheless, because of the hard work of the Chattanooga Police Department and prosecutors in my office, we secured a second degree murder conviction on the shooter in the case (Alexander). It’s not just a fair outcome, it’s a good outcome.

I cannot create or fabricate evidence in homicide cases. What we have is what we have. Normally families of victims are upset when we cannot secure a conviction for their loved one. It’s disheartening that a family would not be happy with a murder conviction. Given the circumstances and the facts, we did the very best we could to seek justice for Darrell Hill.”

For Byrd, he says that is a tough pill to swallow.

He said, “At the end of the day, he was somebody’s son, and he had family.”

Dezmond Alexander according to court records is due back in court on January 4th.

Byrd mentioned to us he believes there are more people involved that were never caught.