Avanya Moore-Harris was a passionate 16-year-old boy who, according to his father, was full of character and took pride in helping others. A student at High Road Academy in Nashville, Tennessee, Avanya was an athlete who stayed out of trouble. After his death, his family received an outpouring of support from his teachers and coaches, who shared how much they had loved him.
His father, Milton Harris Jr., said Avanya was not a bad kid and was not involved in gangs or drugs.
On the evening of Tuesday, September 22, 2026, Avanya was at his family’s home in the Preserve at Highland Ridge Apartments on Dickerson Pike. He had been inside all day playing video games and was getting ready to play Fortnite online with his cousin. He told his cousin he was stepping outside for a moment and would be right back.
Just two or three minutes after he went outside, around 7:12 p.m., Avanya was ambushed in a breezeway of the apartment complex. His father stated that the attack happened in front of Avanya’s 9-year-old sister. The teen was struck by multiple gunshots.
Officers and paramedics with the Metro Nashville Police Department responded to the scene and found Avanya on the ground. He was rushed to Skyline Medical Center, where he died shortly after arrival. No one else at the apartment complex was hurt in the incident.
The family’s loss was compounded by a tragic irony: they had been trying to get out of their lease due to safety concerns and were only one week away from moving out of the complex when Avanya was killed. Homicide and Specialized Investigations detectives began pursuing active leads in the case, though a motive for the shooting was not immediately determined.
As of September 2026, no arrests had been announced in the murder of Avanya Moore-Harris. The case remains unsolved. Nashville Crime Stoppers offers an anonymous cash reward for information that leads to an arrest in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call 615-742-7463.
