NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Several staff members at a juvenile detention center 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 center 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. The TBI placed one of the four, Brandon Caruthers, on its Top 10 Most Wanted list.
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.