Jakob Demoss
Police said a 20-year-old UTC student who was shot and killed on March 19, 2020, died after there was a robbery at gunpoint and he resisted turning over any items to the robbers.
Jakob Demoss, 20, and Israel Ackerman, 21. are charged in the killing and robbery of Tanner Holman.
Officers who went to the scene on MLK Boulevard said they found the student with a gunshot wound to his neck, and he was pronounced dead on the scene.
Police said witnesses told them a black male wearing a white hoodie came into the living room and pointed a gun at everyone inside. A second suspect was also said to run past the entrance of the living room into the kitchen. The witnesses said the first suspect shouted, “Give me all your phones, give me all your (expletive).”
Several girls at the residence handed over their purses. The gunman then demanded the cellphone of Holman's girlfriend. At this point, he said “no” and lunged at the robber. The gunman shot him and left the scene.
In September, police spoke to a witness who had knowledge of the event. The witness said another witness told them Israel Ackerman killed a UTC student, and gave details that were not public knowledge at the time. The witness told police Ackerman and the other suspect were looking for money, and after the shooting, Ackerman and the other person stripped their clothing and placed them into trash bags.
When police viewed pictures of Ackerman, they said those pictures matched a description given to them by the witness. After search warrants for phones were obtained, police found Ackerman’s location data matched the place and time of the homicide.
On Feb. 1, police interviewed a witness, who said Ackerman and Demoss went to smoke some weed before going back to an Airbnb in Red Bank in March. Other witnesses on the scene had previously said a man named Jakob had been hanging around the residence, and that Tanner Holman was known to deal drugs.
Police had interviewed Demoss that March, and he told them he had been in the area earlier the day before. But he told them he left for Pikeville around 7 p.m. Police used geolocation information from Snapchat to confirm he was at the MLK residence at the time of the homicide, and he headed toward Red Bank afterward. Geolocation info also showed Demoss and Ackerman both going to the same Airbnb location before and after the homicide.
Demoss was arrested on Sunday night and is facing charges of first-degree murder, especially aggravated robbery, and aggravated robbery.
Ackerman was taken into custody in Lake County, Fla. He will be extradited back to Chattanooga.
The victim was a junior mechanical engineering student.