KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In the middle of a North Knoxville street, Phillip Sneed's life ended. Knoxville Police said Vondre Allen shot him to death in July after an argument.
But as investigators unraveled the case, they found a common thread: Sneed and Allen both came from Detroit.
It's a connection the Knox County District Attorney said ties together one out of every five murders in the county.
"When you look at those violent crimes you will find that about 20% of them involve either a victim or a suspect who has direct ties or connections to Detroit," Charme Allen, the District Attorney General for Knoxville, said.
She said that there was one major reason behind the homicides: drugs.
"The supply comes out of Detroit, but Knoxville is a demand city," Allen said.
Fentanyl, heroin and meth from the Motor City comes down on I-75 to Knoxville. It's partially because of the easy corridor and partially because of family connections between Michigan and Knoxville, police said.
"Illegal drug activity from Detroit is absolutely driving violent crime, particularly recently," KPD Spokesperson Scott Erland said.
It's not a new problem: we first reported on the Michigan pipeline five years ago.
To stop the killing, KPD said it targets efforts on drug investigations.
"These investigations into drug crimes and drug conspiracy rings is a direct effort to combat violent crime because of the connection between the two, the nexus between the two," Erland said.
However, the majority of violence in Knoxville does not have a Detroit tie, the DA said.
"I don't want to lay all of our problems here in Knox County at Detroit's feet, but there is a connection," she said.
And that connection continues to drive violence, overdoses and deaths here in East Tennessee.
"It's absolutely an uphill battle, but it's one we have to keep attacking," Erland said.
He said KPD works closely with law enforcement agencies in Michigan and on the federal level. Prosecutors from Allen's office, on the other hand, said they've run into hurdles pulling information from the Michigan court system to aid with prosecutions.