DA, Police Chief and Juvenile Judge use new strategy to combat gun violence

By Carley Gordon

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    NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WSMV) — Nashville’s police chief, juvenile judge, and district attorney are now coming together with a new strategy designed to tackle the dangerous problem of stolen guns getting into the hands of teenagers.

Kyle Yorlets was a young Nashville musician with the potential for an extensive career.

“When he wrote music, it was like watching someone carve something out of wood,” said one of Yorlet’s friends in 2020 sit-down interview with News4.

Then on February 7, 2019, his parents got a call from a Metro police chaplain.

“And I knew it was bad news,” Kyle’s mother Debra Yorlets said.

Two teens involved in the murder of a Nashville musician pleaded guilty to second degree murder for shooting and killing Yorlets with a stolen gun.

“Nothing is sadder than meeting with a mother who lost her child because of gun violence, nothing,” Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk said.

Funk said it happens too often. So far this year, 314 guns have been reported stolen in Nashville. Out of those, 222 were taken from cars.

Police said that most of those cars were unlocked, and in many cases, the guns ended up in the hands of teens.

“Nothing good happens if a 15 or 16-year-old is in possession of a stolen weapon,” Funk said. “This is the most preventable of all crimes.”

It’s why Funk has joined the Metro Police Chief John Drake and Davidson County Juvenile Court Judge Sheila Calloway in a campaign called “Be Smart.”

The idea is to get gun owners to store guns safely.

“Because we really need to get the word out and have that reinforced over and over and over again,” Funk said.

Otherwise, Funk said we’ll see more and more tragedies just like the one involving Yorlets.

“Everybody in this city needs to understand this can happen to them,” Debra Yorlets said.

The video campaign will air on TV and be shared on social media.

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