Hamilton County Jury Finds Darryl Roberts Guilty of Second-Degree Murder in Chris Wright Shooting

The man who fatally shot prominent businessman Chris Wright in the forehead in downtown Chattanooga was found guilty Tuesday of second-degree murder in Hamilton County Criminal Court.

Darryl Roberts, 58, was charged with first-degree murder in connection with Wright’s death.

A Hamilton County jury found Roberts guilty of the lesser offense after about seven hours of deliberation across two days. Roberts immediately faced a second trial starting at about 3 p.m. on one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in front of the same jurors.

Wright, 38, approached Roberts outside Patten Towers shortly before midnight Sept. 28, 2023, as he was drunkenly walking home from Jack Brown’s Beer and Burger Joint.

Darryl Roberts

Christopher Wright

{snip}

Roberts was sitting with two friends outside the apartment complex near the intersection of 11th and Market streets.

Surveillance footage showed Roberts and Wright got into some sort of confrontation.

The video had no audio, but Roberts previously testified Wright walked up and said something to the effect of “what’s up n-word” and then repeated the n-word a second time.

As Wright walked away, Roberts approached him and shot him at close range.

{snip}

But Roberts is the only person who claimed Wright used racial slurs, according to Hamilton County Chief Homicide Prosecutor Paul Moyle.

Chattanooga Police Homicide Detective James King previously testified there was no evidence to suggest Wright used a racial slur. {snip}

{snip}

Court records show Roberts has been accused of more than 60 crimes since the early 1990s, ranging from traffic violations to aggravated robbery.

Wright’s death resulted in the Chris Wright Act, a Tennessee law that targets repeat misdemeanor offenders such as Roberts.

{snip}