Tennessee Teen To Be Tried As Adult After Killing Mother

A Sumner County juvenile judge ordered Tuesday that a teen from Hendersonville, Tennessee be tried as an adult after being accused of killing his own mother.

The Tennessean reports that an affidavit, that was released after Juvenile Court Judge Barry Brown’s ruling, has revealed details about how investigators believe Zachery Everitt Davis, 15, of Gannett Drive, killed his mother, Melanie Davis, on August 1oth. After killing his mother, the affidavit goes into further detail on how Davis attempted to set fire to his house while his brother slept.

The affidavit said that Davis went into his mother’s room while she was sleeping and attacked her with a sledgehammer. Then, on his way out, he locked the door and then went upstairs and started a fire in a spare room that was used for games.

Davis’ older brother was asleep in his room when Davis left the house.

According to the affidavit, police later found the 15-year-old Station Camp High School student at at Nichols Drive and Nichols Circle in Gallatin. Police who found and searched Davis found a notebook confessing that he killed his mother and that he was “leaving his brother to burn in the fire that he started.”

Davis has been charged with first-degree murder, criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder, and aggravated arson.

Davis’ brother was unharmed in the fire and is currently staying with family friends, said Sumner County District Attorney Ray Whitley.

According to Whitley, Zachery Davis is being held at Rutherford County Juvenile Detention facility in Murfreesoboro and will stay there since Sumner County has no juvenile facility.

“I think he (the judge) wants him to be still be treated, physically, as a juvenile; legally, he’s treated as an adult,” he added.

The hearing that was held on Tuesday was closed to the public.

“The next thing will be the indictment,” Whitley said. “Our grand jury meets in the first week of October, and I anticipate he will be indicted.”