PDF: Montez Menifee Complaint

A young man authorities believe took part in the fire bombings of a house and two cars over the summer is scheduled to plead guilty in federal court today.

Montez Menifee will plead guilty to one count of possession of an explosive device as a previously convicted felon, defense attorney Robin Flores said Friday.

Originally facing two charges relating to his possession of several “Molotov cocktails,” Mr. Menifee, 24, admitted to a Chattanooga police officer in early July that he had been involved in the fire bombings of two cars and a house on June 26 at 1602 E. 17th St., court records show.

A Molotov cocktail is a common name for a glass bottle filled with gasoline and stuffed with a gasoline-soaked rag to use as a wick for igniting the homemade bomb.

The firebombings were part of a wave of violence that took place June 26 after the stabbing death of LaTony Johnson in the neighborhoods around East Lake Courts.

Mr. Flores said Mr. Menifee faces 10 years in a federal prison, but he would not comment further on his client’s reasoning for possessing the explosive devices or whether he had anything to do with other violent crimes that occurred the day of the fire bombings.

Authorities said Friday that five others involved in the fire bombings, including two women, were taken into custody Sept. 19 during a large gang roundup that resulted in the arrests of 39 people.

Darryl Hill, the resident agent in Chattanooga for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said criminal complaints have been filed in state court against the additional suspects. They face charges of aiding and abetting and aggravated arson, Mr. Hill said, but they likely will be prosecuted in state court.

The firebombings and several other crimes on June 26 — shots fired into a house on East 27th Street, shots fired into a car on East 34th Street and a car set on fire on the 2100 block of East 27th Street — all were believed at the time to have been spurred by the death of Mr. Johnson earlier the same day during a fight at 2241 E. 27th St.

Mr. Johnson, 22, died during surgery at Erlanger hospital. Authorities since have arrested and charged Courrie Long, 28, with criminal homicide in relation to Mr. Johnson’s death.

Mr. Hill confirmed Friday that the recent arrests have brought authorities closer to figuring out what exactly happened that day.

“Yes, the fire bombings were related to the homicide,” Mr. Hill said. “We also have evidence to believe that it was related to gang activity.”

He declined to go into further detail about the ongoing investigation, saying only that “we’re going to run it into the ground until everyone who was responsible for this is in custody.”

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