FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2019, file photo, Carverton band members, from left, Michael Wiebel, Michael Curry and Christian Ferguson, talk about fellow member Kyle Yorlets during a press conference about the killing of Yorlets, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. Police in Tennessee were searching Sunday, Dec. 1, for four teenagers who escaped from a juvenile detention center in Nashville. A news release from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said two of the teens were charged in separate slayings that occurred earlier this year. The other two escapees were facing armed robbery charges. One of the killings involved Nashville musician Yorlets, who was found shot to death outside his home in February. (Shelley Mays/The Tennessean via AP, File)
Republished December 02, 2019 - 1:46 PM
Original Publication Date December 02, 2019 - 1:11 PM
NASHVILLE - Several staff members at a juvenile detention centre in Tennessee have been placed on leave while a court reviews the escape of four teenagers.
News outlets report Davidson County Juvenile Court Administrator Kathryn Sinback said in a statement Monday that “critical oversights” by multiple staff members at the Nashville centre allowed the escape to happen Saturday night.
Two of the teens, ages 16 and 17, are charged in separate slayings. One death involved Nashville musician Kyle Yorlets, who was found dead in February. The other two escapees, ages 15 and 17, face armed robbery charges.
Police said the four escapees should be considered dangerous.
Sinback said a supervisor asked the four to clean an area. Sinback said the supervisor left to check on a fight in another part of the building, and the four were left unsupervised.
She said the teens got on an elevator that had been “left ajar” and “were then able to convince a staff member” to send the elevator to the unsecured basement.
“Upon exiting the elevator in the basement, the youth were able to enter a public area of Juvenile Court and run out the front door of the Juvenile Justice Center,” Sinback said.
The contractor that runs the facility, Youth Opportunity Investments, took several measures to improve security, including limiting elevator access to staff only, Sinback said.
The supervisor on duty notified the facility director that the youth were missing at 9:57 p.m. and drove around looking for the teens before alerting police some 25 minutes later.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019