In the spring of 2014 a shooting on Appling Street in East Chattanooga left 22-year-old DeSean Pierce dead. The incident occurred on the evening of May 21 and Pierce, a Black male, suffered multiple gunshot wounds and died at the scene. Another man, 24-year-old Christopher Brown, was also shot and taken to a hospital with injuries described as not believed to be life-threatening.

Family members said Pierce had been trying to turn his life around, had recently started a new job, and lived only a few blocks from where the shooting occurred. His mother, Lashun Pierce, went to the scene after a neighbor reported hearing gunshots and the family expressed grief and frustration about communication from police.

The Chattanooga Police Department’s investigation concluded that the sequence began when Pierce fired on two men identified as Derrick Ruffin and Ivan Hill, and that Ivan Hill returned fire, striking Pierce multiple times. Authorities ruled the killing of DeSean Pierce justified and closed the case with no arrests. Did anyone in East Chattanooga see or hear anything that night that could add detail to what happened?