The killing of a gay man in Savannah last month has raised concerns among LGBTQ advocates about the Savannah Police Department’s once robust procedures and practices intended to keep their community safe from violence.
SPD has arrested the suspected killer of Chris Allen Villegas Fentress, and officials have previously said it has no evidence to suggest the shooting was a hate crime. This week, the department did not respond to a request to comment about multiple social media posts apparently made by the detained man that contain anti-gay language after The Current brought the statements to the SPD’s attention.
Meanwhile, the department broke with tradition by not sending an officer tasked as a liaison with the area’s queer community to a vigil organized on March 27 by Savannah Pride Center to mourn the loss of Villegas Fentress, 29, who volunteered for the group, the largest LGBTQ support center in the region. The former SPD officer who held that position told The Current that SPD had no handover when she retired in 2022, and the director of Savannah Pride said he didn’t even know such a position existed.
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