Natalie Neysa Alund

USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

With his hands in his pockets, 20-year-old Lamontae Burleson crouched down on his knees beside his little sister’s grave, nestled between the silhouette of a half-dozen barren-leaved trees inside Nashville's Greenwood Cemetery.

The wind whistled around him on a recent brisk Friday as a single tear slid down his left cheek.

“I just wanted to talk to her for a minute," Burleson said softly. "If I could reach into the ground and pick her up and touch her soul I would, but that's not how it works.”

His sister died in November, shot outside a home in the J.C. Napier public housing development. She was just 14.

Police have charged another teenager, 18-year-old Antwana Smith, in Treyonta Burleson's death after detectives say she admitted she shot Treyonta in the chest in a heated fight over a comment that disrespected her family.

“What’s the deal with all these shootings? Kids killing kids," Burleson said, raising his voice, his eyes fixated on his sister's temporary green grave marker. "Pick up some boxing gloves and go on and get it over with. The (gun) violence — look what it did. Look what it did."

Treyonta's death came amid the bloodiest year for young people that Nashville has seen in more than a decade. Last year, 20 people age 19 and younger died in criminal homicides — 10 times the number of El Paso, Texas; five times more than in Denver; four times higher than Louisville, Ky.; and double that of Oakland, Calif. All but three died as a result of gun violence.

So far in 2016, the trend continues. Although no teens have died this year, 21 people age 25 and younger have been wounded by gunfire.

Nashville youth violence: By the numbers

Just last week three teens were shot on the same day within hours of one another — one in a suspected drug-related incident, the other two in a drive-by shooting. On March 1, a 16-year-old boy grabbed a 9 mm handgun from his bedroom closet and shot his 67-year-old grandmother, 12-year-old sister and 6-year-old nephew, police said. He lived in the Berkshire Place Apartments in East Nashville, and the shooting forced nearby schools and a voting precinct to briefly go on lockdown.

The boy, investigators say, had been angry about getting out of bed and going to school.

Youth violence surged in Nashville in 2015

"It’s frustrating. When will it stop? What will it take?" said Michael Burleson, Treyonta's 27-year-old uncle. "I love Nashville. But we’ve got to do better as a city and step up because things are getting out of hand. The crime is getting senseless for our youth — for them to keep hurting each other and trying to take each other’s lives. We’ve got to find a better solution for them, some different resources. We must come together as a people."

Prompting action

The high number of teens involved in violence has led Mayor Megan Barry to launch an initiative to combat the problem — prompted by Treyonta's death. Recommendations on how to curb the violence are due back later this month. That's on top of existing outreach programs run by the police department and community groups.

Students brainstorm how to curtail Nashville violence

Those outreach efforts include a program run by the police in partnership with the Davidson County Sheriff's Office and a local nonprofit to strengthen families. Since 2011, 203 children have participated.

Some of Nashville's peer cities, which experienced far fewer teen deaths last year, have similar programs underway. Louisville's police chief has an advisory council of 30 high school age kids. Denver's police department has sponsored a youth athletic league since 1969.

Sister: Teen who shot family before school has 'anger issues'

In Nashville, police to nonprofits work to curb youth violence

Fear of continuation

Treyonta's uncle, the assistant athletic director for the Woodbine Youth League, said he is afraid the city's violent youth issue will continue.

"We gotta do something," Michael Burleson said through tears as he stood over his niece's grave, his eyes practically swollen shut. "My niece shouldn’t be right there. I mean, what, especially over words. C’mon. There has to be discipline. You need to know how to sit them down and teach them before someone else does so you don’t have to bury your child."

Lamontae Burleson's visit to his sister's grave earlier this month was his first since her November funeral. Grass had not yet grown over the plot.

“I kept saying, ‘I’m going to come see you girl, but it’s something I (haven’t) been able to deal with it," he said. "(There are) times when I want to break down for her, but I can’t. She’d just want me to be strong."

Burleson said he grew up in the home where his sister was shot and that their mother is a single parent who raised 10 children. He moved to North Nashville about three years ago. He said he sometimes feels that if he would have stayed, his sister might still be alive.

"People say, 'You’re acting like somebody’s daddy.' I can’t help it. I helped raise nine children," said Burleson, who graduated from Bass High School and now works as a dietitian at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Michael Burleson said that moving forward, city leaders need to dig up the resources for the youth here. And they need to do it fast.

“We only can say so much. We’ve gotta put some actions behind it. Ya’ll (city officials) have the resources. You can find the funding. You find funding for everything else. You have funding to build these buildings," he said, then pointed behind him to the downtown Nashville skyline.

"I mean, I understand they bring jobs, but at the same time, who's gonna build these youth that are coming up? They’re going to be the next, the future of Nashville, of Tennessee, of Davidson County. They might be the next mayor, but if they don’t live to see that, who's going to be able to take over when we're all gone? We’ve got to change it somewhere."

As the teen who stands accused of killing Treyonta remains jailed on $250,000 bond and awaits her next day in court, the Burlesons said they forgive the person who police say ended the girl's life.

“She’s a child, too,” Lamontae Burleson said. “You have to forgive and forget. Her life is destroyed, too.”

Reach Natalie Neysa Alund at 615-259-8072 and on Twitter @nataliealund.

Nashville gunshot victims

2016 — Total: 44*. Age 25 and under: 21*

Total: 44*. Age 25 and under: 21* 2015 — Total 288. Age 25 and under: 159

Total 288. Age 25 and under: 159 2014 — Total: 261. Age 25 and under: 136

*As of March 9

** Includes violent incidents (homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) in which one or more victims received a fatal or nonfatal gunshot would. Suicides, suicide attempts and accidental shootings are excluded.

Children age 19 and under killed in 2015 in peer cities

Nashville: 20

El Paso, Texas: 2

Denver: 4

Louisville, Ky.: 5

Oakland, Calif.: 10

Children age 19 and under killed in 2015 in other big Tennessee cities

Knoxville: 4

Chattanooga: 6

Memphis: 22

Criminal homicides by city for 2015

Nashville: 75

75 El Paso: 17

17 Denver: 51

51 Louisville: 80

80 Oakland: 83

83 Knoxville: 21

21 Chattanooga: 26

26 Memphis: 138

Nashville children age 19 and under who were killed in 2015:

Treyonta Burleson, 14*

Da'Vontae Ziegler, 15*

Row'Neshia Overton, 15*

Kenneth Jones, 15*

Dejuan Lytle, 16*

Kevin Ibarra, 16*

Luan Le, 16*

Brandon Williams, 17*

Ian Patterson, 17*

Elijah Butler, 18*

William Frazier Jr., 18*

Kenneth Hatcher, 18*

Dalen Risby, 18*

Craig Lambert, 19*

Jory Sweat, 19*

Cameron Selmon, 19*

Muslah Al-Nimar, 19*

Nikki Duong, 6 months

Constantine Laizure, 7 months

Hayden Messiah Eldridge, 1

* Died as a result of gunfire