TBI Searches for Accused Killer in Teenage Gang Shooting

It was a violent clash between members of two rival gangs in South Nashville.
And when it was over, a 16-year-old boy was dead.
The alleged killer, Juan Mendez, is now being sought by the T-B-I.

Fox 17's Scott Couch has the details in tonight's T-B-I's most wanted.


It was May 5th 2005, 16-year-old Javier Magallanes was at the La Hacienda restaurant at 3744 Nolensville road celebrating cinco de mayo with friends.
The celebration ended in a flash of gang gunfire.

The shooter walked up, started flashing some gang signs, opened fire into a crowd and that's when the victim was struck numerous times and killed"

the TBI says the victim, Javier Magallanes, was a member of the brown pride gang. This is an example of some of their graffiti in south nashville."

The suspect, Mendez, is a member of a rival gang in South Nashville called Sur 13"

Sur 13 is a gang that traces its roots back to southern california.
Its members are said to be the enforcers of the Mexican mob.

the color and the appearance and also tatoos"

Yuri Cunza is a member of the South Nashville hispanic chamber of commerce.
He says he's seen the graffiti but believes Juan Mendez and his friends are more wanna bees than they are real Sur 13 gang members.
But Cunza concedes, what mendez allegedly did came right out of the mexican gang playbook.

it's a say to prove themselves and perhaps qualify to be a member and move up on the ladder of position within it"
Juan Mendez was born in 1987.
He has black hair and brown eyes.
Menzez is 5-7 and about 165 pounds.
If you see, him call 1-800-TBI-find.

The TBI has received reports Juan Mendez' has been seen in the Bowling Green area withing the past 6-months.
They say he should be considered armed and dangerous.