The accused killers of 24-year-old Kyle Yorlets were a group of violent teens who reportedly fatally shot the musician when he refused to give them his car keys.
The suspects have been identified as Diamond Lewis, 15; Roniyah McKnight, 14; Decorrius Wright, 16; as well as a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old boy whose names were withheld because of their ages. Prosecutors plan to charge them as adults, the Nashville Tennessean reported.
“He’s an absolute, absolute innocent victim,” police spokesman Don Arron said. He added, “none of the five individuals [arrested] are a stranger to the system or this police department.”
Cops had been searching for the 12-year-old, who had run away from home, since Thursday morning. They discovered Snapchat posts showing the girl in a car “with other young people with guns.”
The teen killers had stolen a pickup truck in Oak Grove, Kentucky and ended up in an alley behind Yorlet’s house. Cops said when they saw him outside they took his wallet but he refused to give up his car keys. That’s when the heartless group opened fire.
Mortally wounded, Yorlet made it back to his house and was found an hour later by a roommate. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The armed killers were captured at a Nashville Walmart. Cops say they had been stealing guns from vehicles for months.
Yorlets’ fellow musicians in the band “Calverton” said in a statement that they’re “heartbroken.”
“We will never forget Kyle, and though he is gone too soon, his legacy is here to stay,” they said.
Samantha Harrison, who worked at a restaurant where Yorlets tended bar, described him as someone who “made work not seem like work when he was around.”
A former college roommate described the singer as a “kind, friendly and charismatic soul …who was very passionate about music.”
