Suspected murderer of 12-year-old girl lived two doors down

Roy Coons Jr. 45, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder, two counts of felony first-degree felony murder, attempted rape of a child, and especially aggravated burglary. He is being held without bond.

Yhoana Arteaga was found dead in her family's home on Dickerson Pike on Aug. 10. The cause of death was later determined to be strangulation.

Police said her clothes were in disarray and suffered blunt force trauma.

Neighbors say Coons lives in the mobile home community for about a decade.

Margaret Harper said he cut grass and washed cars.

"I've seen him out here mowing lawns thinking he's got the nerve," Harper said.

Harper said she has suspected him from the beginning.

"My gut feeling was, he's got a guilty conscience," she said.

She told police about an incident involving him at Yhoana's vigil.

"I walked over and put a candle in his hand and all he did was dropped his head and walked away. I said to some detectives, 'Did you see that?'" Harper said.

"The murder of Yhoana Arteaga was shocking to this community, including members of this police department," Metro Police Chief Steve Anderson said. "This afternoon, we have been able to bring about relief to the Old Dickerson Pike neighborhood and Nashville as a whole."

Police said Coons has been convicted of more than 30 offenses since 1992. He was last convicted on drug and gun charges in January 2016. He received an eight-year probated sentence.

"I don't think there is a member of this police department that is not troubled by the fact that when we arrest people for violent crimes they have been arrested many times before and are convicted yet on the streets," Anderson said at a press conference on Monday afternoon.