Teen violence up in 2017 in Nashville

Seven juveniles have been charged with murder in Nashville so far this year. That equals the total for all of 2016 and is triple the number recorded in 2015.

News 4 sat down with several young men with troubled pasts hoping they might be able to shed light on this disturbing trend.

Teen counselors at United For Our Youth Summer Enrichment Camp talk about gun violence like they are talking about what they ate for lunch.

"They tried to shoot him in his face, but they only got him in his hand," Miquan Tucker said.

Tucker said teens shooting teens is just something that happens.

"It's a lot of people hanging with the wrong people," Tucker said.

Tucker got in trouble for having a gun at school. He said his love of basketball, along with a little help from his mentor, helped him make a big change.

"Go to school and learn. If you get caught in the wrong group you might not have a second chance," he said.

Curbing youth violence has been a struggle in Davidson County for years.

"Wrong place, wrong time and wrong people," Reginald Williams said.

The young men said there isn't just one thing to blame for the growing violence.

"Teens are shooting teens because they are betraying each other," Williams said.

"They feel like they can't get anything from their mom or dad they do on the streets to get it on their own way," Tucker said.

Programs like the United For Our Youth Summer Enrichment Camp can help.

"It's been keeping me out of trouble." Williams said.

Davidson County isn't the only area seeing a growing trend in youth violence. Last year in Memphis, five juveniles were charged with murder. So far this year, 14 young people have been arrested in Memphis.