Thomas Holder was a 20-year-old Black man from Chattanooga, Tennessee, whose life ended in the quiet hours leading into June 20, 2017. By mid-morning police were called to Highland Memorial Gardens Cemetery in the North Brainerd area, where Holder and another teenager were found dead from apparent gunshot wounds among the cemetery grounds. Preliminary medical examiner reports indicated Holder was shot once in the head; the other victim suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

Investigators treated the killings as a gang-motivated double homicide and worked a timeline using surveillance footage, phone-tracking and witness accounts. Cameras captured two suspects getting into a silver Chrysler PT Cruiser at East Lake Courts shortly before 1 a.m., the vehicle stopped at Woodlawn Apartments where the second victim lived, and phone-tracking placed that victim’s iPhone at the cemetery.

A police affidavit noted Holder had recently posted an image suggesting he’d come into cash, yet when he was found his pockets were turned inside out and no money was on him, a detail investigators linked to possible robbery. Authorities identified two suspects: William H. Wright and an unnamed 17-year-old boy; both were charged with two counts of first-degree murder and especially aggravated robbery. Did anyone who knew Thomas or who was in the North Brainerd or East Lake Courts area that night see the PT Cruiser or the people who got into it?