An 18-year-old man is facing four counts of attempted homicide after Metro Nashville Police say he opened fire on a moving vehicle carrying a 15-year-old mother, her 3-month-old son, and two other men on Murfreesboro Pike this summer, leaving the infant with graze wounds to the chest and left shoulder. Danni Varela was taken into custody Tuesday, more than two months after the June 28 shooting, and is being held without bond.
According to WSMV, the group was driving home on Murfreesboro Pike when a red sedan pulled alongside their vehicle at the intersection with Old Hickory Boulevard. A man inside the sedan pointed a pistol out the window and opened fire, striking the vehicle multiple times. It wasn't until the group stopped later that they discovered the baby had been hit.
Infant Rushed to Nashville's Only Level I Pediatric Trauma Center
The 3-month-old was brought to Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, where Metro Nashville Police officers were dispatched per the arrest affidavit. The hospital is an American College of Surgeons-verified Level I Pediatric Trauma Center, and it's the only facility with that designation within a 150-mile radius, according to Vanderbilt Health News.
Detectives used interviews and surveillance footage to identify Varela as the suspect, per MNPD. He admitted, according to police, that he had an ongoing dispute with one of the men riding in the vehicle that day. That admission underpins the severity of the charges he now faces: four separate counts of attempted homicide.
What Tennessee Law Says About the Charges Varela Faces
Attempted first-degree murder is classified as a Class A felony under Tennessee law, carrying a prison sentence of 15 to 60 years, according to USA Herald. Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-17-1324 also imposes a mandatory consecutive prison term, served with 100% parole ineligibility, for employing a firearm during the commission or attempted commission of a dangerous felony, according to the USA Herald article by Samuel Lopez. Whether prosecutors will pursue additional charges such as reckless endangerment, or seek those firearm enhancements specifically, remains an open question as the case moves toward preliminary hearings.
Murfreesboro Pike and Old Hickory Boulevard are high-volume arterial corridors in southeast Davidson County that connect suburban neighborhoods to Interstate 24, according to background research on the area's road network.
A Shooting That Echoes a 2023 Nashville Case
This isn't the first time a young child riding in a Nashville backseat has been struck by gunfire during a targeted dispute. In June 2023, Metro Nashville police identified four suspects in connection with the fatal shooting of 4-year-old Taliyah Frazier, who was struck by targeted gunfire while sitting in the backseat of a vehicle at a North Nashville intersection, according to the department's own account of that case. The shooting also highlights the danger of firearm injuries to children.
The case also lands amid a broader decline in violent crime across the city. Metro Nashville Police Department data shows overall violent crime dropped 16.7% and homicides fell 29.4% during the first half of 2026 compared to the same period the year before, according to the Tennessee Bar Association. Nashville also recorded fewer gunshot victims in 2025 than in 2024.
Even so, the Murfreesboro Pike shooting is a highly visible case involving children in a backseat. Cases involving children in backseats remain part of the public conversation even as citywide numbers trend downward.
For now, Varela remains held without bond as the case proceeds. Whether he will stay in custody through his preliminary hearing, and what additional charges prosecutors may add, are questions that remain unresolved as the investigation continues.
