NASHVILLE, TENN. — A 17-year-old is in custody and will be facing a number of charges, including vehicular homicide by recklessness, for crashing a carjacked Kia Forte sedan into a pedestrian at 1st Avenue North and Gay Street.
The pedestrian, who was killed, is identified as Corey Joseph Taylor, 24, who was visiting from Jonesboro, Arkansas.
The events began early Sunday morning when a young man with a gun carjacked the 2012 Kia from a victim on Peach Creek Crescent off Stewarts Ferry Pike. A witness to this got into his vehicle and followed the Kia at a high rate of speed on I-40. The witness telephoned the Emergency Communications Center and provided updates on the Kia’s location. A Central Precinct officer spotted the carjacked Kia at 12:36 a.m. and initiated a pursuit that spanned a very short distance and lasted less than 30 seconds. At the intersection of 1st Avenue and Gay Street, the 17-year-old attempted to turn left. The Kia struck the curb, traveled across Gay Street and went onto the sidewalk. It struck Taylor (who died at the scene) and a utility pole before coming to final rest.
The 17-year-old fled from the Kia with pistol in hand and jumped down onto a steep wooded embankment that leads to the Cumberland River. Officers manned a boat and responded to the riverbank area where the teenager was ultimately taken into custody at 5:35 a.m. He was taken to Vanderbilt Medical Center for treatment of injuries sustained when he jumped onto the embankment. He will be taken to juvenile detention upon his release from the hospital.
Hermitage Precinct detectives are investigating the carjacking. Charges against the 17-year-old in relation to that are anticipated.
