14-Year-Old Tortured, Killed by Three Racist Homeless Drifters in Nashville, Tennessee

On April 26, 1987, 14-year-old Kerrick Majors and four friends took a city bus from downtown Nashville, Tennessee, to East Nashville. The bus route took the teens down Gallatin Road. Around 7 p.m., the teens jumped off the bus when they saw a table set up with various items on the side of the road. As the teens approached, a lady yelled at them to 'leave the stuff alone.'

The woman, 17-year-old Tammy Middlebrooks, and her husband, 24-year-old Donald Middlebrooks, had set up the table with help from their friend, Robert Roger Brewington, a 16-year-old runaway. All three were homeless drifters hoping to earn a little cash selling the items.

And all three hated Black people.

Tammy continued to yell at the teenagers who were displeased with the way she spoke to them. A commotion erupted, causing a vase to fall from the table to the ground. Police later determined the item had a cash value of $2.

Donald and Robert had approached the teens by that time.  The teens didn't want any trouble. They ran when the vase broke. Donald and Robert pursued the group and caught Majors. His friends ran further before hearing the men cursing; they realized they had caught Majors and stopped and watched.

Group Catch up to Majors

Donald and Robert began yelling racial slurs at the Black teenagers. Donald then started throwing fists, knocking Majors to the ground. With the teen stunned from the punch, Donald grabbed him by the arms and dragged him to the table where the vase had fallen and broken. Robert and Donald took turns punching Majors while Tammy stood as a lookout. 

After several minutes, Donald and Robert dragged Majors to a wooded area behind a drug store, out of sight from Gallatin Road or any customers patronizing the drug store or nearby businesses. There, Donald and Robert forced Majors to strip naked, and then tied him up with a rope.

Robert searched for Majors’ friends, but returned when he could not locate them. The teens had already rushed to a payphone to call Kerrick's mom, Deborah, to tell them what happened.

Meanwhile, Donald continued brutally punching and kicking Majors. Robert joined the attack when he returned.

Over the next several hours, all three drifters tortured Kerrick. The group slapped him, hit him with brass knuckles and sticks, urinated on him, and burned him on the nose with a lighter. The group used a knife to carve an "X" on Kerrick's chest.  Finally tired of torturing Kerrick, Donald stabbed the teen twice in the chest, causing fatal wounds.

Police No Help, Mom Searches For Missing Son

When Kerrick did not return home that evening, Deborah filed a missing person report with the police. She explained what Kerrick's friends had witnessed, yet officers never visited her home, questioned his friends, or offered to search for him.  She went to the Juvenile Court the next morning, but they, too, were of little help. Officials listed Kerric as a runaway and told Deborah no one was available to help her search for her missing son.

Without assistance from the police, Deborah, along with other family members and the four friends who accompanied him the day before,  headed to the area where the drifters had set up the table to look for Kerrick. Around 3:30 p.m., the family found his body lying face up in a dry creek bed. A foam mattress had been thrown on top of him. A bloody stick lay near his body.

Robert Brewington Confesses

Police received a phone call from Robert Brewington on April 28. He needed to speak to an officer. He met up with them at a donut shop, where he immediately confessed that he knew who killed Kerrick Majors. He gave police officers Tammy and Donald’s names, but denied any involvement in the attack. He took officers to the bloodstained knife and told them where to find his friends.

Donald refused to come out of the shack where he had been living, resulting in K9s retrieving him with force. Tammy was also bitten by a K9 when she tried to run. Both were treated for their injuries at a local hospital and, along with Robert, taken into custody.

Sentencing & Case Aftermath

Donald and Robert blamed each other for Kerrick's murder. Middlebrooks claimed Robert killed Majors in a satanic ritual and had beaten, gagged, raped, and stabbed the teen. Donald claimed he stabbed the teenager one time, but wasn't involved otherwise.

While awaiting trial, Robert was raped by another inmate. Donald Middlebrooks was attacked by a group of Black inmates in retaliation for Kerrick's murder while at the Tennessee State penitentiary.

Robert and Tammy were both juveniles ineligible for the death penalty. He was found guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, and armed robbery. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 75 years. He remains behind bars. Tammy received life in prison on charges of kidnapping and murder. She was released after serving 17 years. Donald was found guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping and sentenced to death by electric chair. He remains on death row.

Officers Suspended

Although the police chief had the option to terminate the officers who failed to investigate Kerrick's disappearance, he chose instead to suspend them. Sgt. Robert Graves and Officer Robert Swisher each received short suspensions in response.