Shot. [DCS re-evaluating home pass policy after 16-year-old accused of gas station shooting, Tennessean.com, March 23, 2019]:

The Department of Children’s Services is re-evaluating its policies after police said a 16-year-old with a violent history was released from custody on a weekend home pass, never returned and then shot a man at a gas station.

Home passes are designed to give juvenile offenders in custody time to ease into outside life, with therapy and support from experts, an agency spokeswoman said. But the shooting earlier this month highlights potential risks in the system.

Police said 16-year-old David Earl Mays was trying to carjack a driver filling his tank at a gas station when he opened fire, hitting the victim in the torso. The victim was rushed to the hospital and needed multiple surgeries.

Mays was released on a weekend pass despite the fact that he had a history of arrests linked with gun crimes and displayed violent behavior in the weeks before he was temporarily released from DCS custody.

Police said Mays was “no stranger” to the department, pointing out that he was arrested in July and charged with robbing two men at gunpoint and stealing their cars and belongings.

After Mays was charged in the shooting, Nashville prosecutors said they wanted to try him as an adult. The Tennessean is naming him because of the severity of the allegations.

DCS doesn’t track global statistics on what happens to juveniles released on weekend passes. Those records are kept only in individual juveniles’ files, meaning officials don’t know how many juveniles abscond or re-offend while out on a home pass.

Mays was remanded to DCS custody after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including handgun possession, aggravated robbery and theft of $2,500 or more, on July 31, according to documents obtained by The Tennessean.

While in DCS custody, he continued to exhibit violent behavior, according to the documents.

Mays was identified as the aggressor in a physical assault Dec. 15 at the Academy for Young Men on Stewarts Ferry Pike, according to a Jan. 2 DCS memo.

On Dec. 21, he was transferred to the Gateway Academy for Young Men on Stewarts Lane “due to disruptive behavior and involvement in several serious incidents,” according to the memo.

Yet, weeks later, DCS allowed Mays to leave on a weekend home pass.

According to DCS policy, “off campus visits and passes may be denied only if the youth” has committed “major violations” — like arson, carrying a dangerous weapon or crimes against a person — in the last 30 days.

Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said the department isn’t currently told when juveniles are released from DCS custody. Mays’ grandfather reported him missing to police after he didn’t return to custody on Feb. 3.

“Perhaps DCS should consider informing local law enforcement when a juvenile who has committed a violent crime or a major crime like home burglary is being given a weekend pass,” Aaron said.

Weir confirmed that would be part of the review and that the agency “will be coordinating with local law enforcement to notify them when youth will be in the community on a home pass.”

A spokesman for TrueCore Behavioral, the private company contracted to operate the Nashville facility where Mays had last stayed, said Mays was not its responsibility while on temporary home pass.

“While a youth is on home pass, he is in the custody of his parents and not under the supervision of the program,” spokesman Jack Eich said in an email. “Parents are required to sign a temporary custody agreement.”