In the early morning hours of October 27, 2014, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a burst of gunfire shattered the predawn quiet on Central Avenue. When police arrived at the scene around 3:50 a.m., they found 28-year-old Terrence Lebron Bivens, a Black male, suffering from gunshot wounds. Tragically, his injuries were fatal, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The incident marked another grim statistic in a city grappling with a surge of violence.
The investigation into Bivens' death quickly focused on a suspect. Ladaquis D. Southers, a 29-year-old man, was identified as the individual responsible for the shooting. In the weeks that followed, law enforcement tracked Southers to Atlanta, Georgia. On a Friday in late November 2014, U.S. Marshals located and arrested him in connection with the killing of Terrence Bivens.
Following his apprehension in Atlanta, Ladaquis Southers was charged with the murder of Terrence Bivens. He was then extradited back to Chattanooga to face the legal ramifications of the crime he was accused of committing. The arrest brought a measure of progress to a case that had contributed to a week of bloodshed in the city, and it offered a glimmer of hope for justice for Bivens and his grieving family.
