In the late afternoon of February 7, 2019, the life of a promising 24-year-old male musician was tragically cut short in Nashville, Tennessee. Kyle Yorlets was outside his Torbett Street home when he was approached by a group of five juveniles who had been lingering in the alley behind his residence. The encounter quickly turned into a robbery; the youths took his wallet and then demanded the keys to his vehicle. When Yorlets refused to comply, he was shot.
Despite his severe injury, he managed to get back inside his house, where a housemate discovered him. He was rushed to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, but his wounds proved fatal, and he was pronounced dead.
The investigation into the senseless killing moved swiftly. That same evening, Metro Nashville Police located the five suspects at a Walmart on Charlotte Pike. The group consisted of three girls, ages 12, 14, and 15, and two boys, ages 13 and 16. During the arrests, authorities recovered two stolen pistols, one of which was found on the suspects and another inside the store. The getaway vehicle, a stolen red pickup truck, was also found abandoned elsewhere in the city. The three oldest teens were publicly identified as 16-year-old Decorrius Wright, 15-year-old Diamond Lewis, and 14-year-old Roniyah McKnight; the younger two were not named due to Tennessee law. All five were charged with criminal homicide.
The legal proceedings that followed drew significant attention as the justice system grappled with the severity of the crime committed by such young individuals. A decision was made to transfer the two oldest suspects, Decorrius Wright and Diamond Lewis, to adult court to face murder charges. Investigators believed Lewis orchestrated the robbery and Wright was the one who pulled the trigger. The trials for the two were later severed. In October 2021, both Wright, then 18, and Lewis, then 17, accepted plea agreements and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
During an emotional sentencing hearing, powerful victim impact statements were read in court, including one from Yorlets' mother, who had tragically passed away from cancer before she could see the resolution of her son's case. In a display that was noted in reports, Decorrius Wright appeared disengaged, yawning and closing his eyes while the heartfelt letters were read. Diamond Lewis was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Decorrius Wright received a 26-year prison sentence, to be followed by 10 years of probation. The three younger suspects remained within the juvenile court system.
