April, 2023 – A Davidson County jury found Juwan Jaheim Gaines guilty on all three counts for a 2020 shooting at Opry Mills Mall that sent shoppers scrambling.  It took the Criminal Court Division IV jury just 40 minutes to find Gaines (who was 19 years old at the time of the shooting) guilty of Attempted First Degree Murder, Employment of a Firearm during the Commission of a Dangerous Felony, and Reckless Endangerment.   Witnesses stated that Gaines was walking with another group of men when he pulled his gun and began shooting.   Then 19-year-old Michael Pignone was hit, but has since recovered.   Sentencing for Gaines is set for early June.   

With the beginning of a new year, Nashville/ Davidson County District Attorney General Glenn Funk sat down with News 2 to talk about fighting crime in 2023.

A big part of that fight is urging Nashvillians to be responsible gun owners.

Last year, MNPD reported a record number of guns stolen out of vehicles. The majority of them were taken from cars that were left unlocked.

“Part of the problem that we see is that a responsible gun owner does not leave their gun in their car,” said Funk. “If you have a gun in the car, it’s much more likely to get stolen. That’s how we’re seeing a lot of guns end up in the hands of juveniles, and somebody who’s not even 18 years old yet does not appreciate the sanctity of life or the permeance of death and that’s just a really bad mixture.”

The latest release from MNPD revealed 1,353 guns had been stolen from vehicles in Nashville in 2022. More than 70% of them were taken from vehicles. Police also note that vehicle burglaries go “hand-in-hand” with vehicle theft.

“I’m really trying to work hard to get the message out and so is the chief to be safe when it comes to how you store your weapons,” Funk said.

Metro Police Chief John Drake and his officers have been advocating responsible gun ownership for months.  General Funk is optimistic that the partnership between Metro Police and the DA’s office, along with a renewed awareness about safe gun ownership, will lead to fewer gun crimes in the new year.

     Tarek Mentouri, the former massage therapist accused by 19 women of sex crimes, pleaded guilty in late November to six crimes, including felony sexual battery, as part of a plea deal that will place him on the sex offender registry and sentence him to prison for six years.

      Mentouri pleaded guilty to three felony counts of sexual battery, two misdemeanor assault/provocative contact charges, and one misdemeanor charge of criminal impersonation. As part of the plea deal, Mentouri will be eligible for consideration of early release from prison after serving 30% of his six-year sentence.

“If I get to see him in a jumpsuit, that’s kind of nice for me,” said Peyton Parker, the first woman to contact Nashville news outlet WSMV4 Investigates after she said Mentouri sexually violated her during a job interview.  Mentouri pleaded guilty to sexual battery in Parker’s case. “He’s awful, and he did awful things to people, and they’ve had awful experiences,” April Parker, Peyton’s mother, said.   His is trial on the sex crimes was set to begin next year.

The most serious charge Mentouri faced, a rape charge, was dismissed as part of the plea when prosecutors realized the evidence available would most likely not result in a successful verdict on that charge.

Still, Nashville Assistant District Attorney Sarah Wolfson Butler said:

“We are very pleased with the outcome and knowing that this sexual predator admits to his actions. Our office fought vigorously for every victim on this case. Ultimately, we have to weigh the evidentiary strength of each case and a large part of that assessment is victim cooperation. We deeply respect and appreciate the patience and support of the many victims in this case. Thanks to their efforts, this predator is off the streets.”

Prior to the deal, a zoom meeting with as many victims as the district attorney’s office could come in contact with was held and all of the victims agreed to the plea deal.

“I’m satisfied as I can be with what we got,” Peyton Parker said. “Getting any jail time for him is great and having him on the sex offender registry is extremely important. He obviously did more serious crimes, and it would be great if he had been convicted of those. But you’ve got to take what you can.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/25/us/prosecutors-criminal-justice.html

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