April 15, 2025 – Dejuan Bell, 33, of Nashville, has been charged by criminal complaint with being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession with intent to distribute oxycodone and cocaine, and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, announced Acting United States Attorney Robert E. McGuire for the Middle District of Tennessee.
“Our efforts in Operation Bond Watch are designed to keep those with violent histories from possessing firearms and putting our community at risk,” said Acting United States Attorney Robert E. McGuire. “A person previously and recently convicted of killing someone should not have a handgun – period.”
According to court documents, on the afternoon of March 18, 2025, Metropolitan Nashville Police Department detectives monitoring Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) cameras saw Bell arrive at the James Cayce Homes. The detectives were familiar with Bell because of his involvement in a 2018 homicide in Nashville. They saw Bell get out of the driver’s seat of a Nissan Altima and walk up to several people who were on porches. Bell was on the MDHA “No Trespassing” list, and he had a suspended driver’s license.
On the MDHA cameras, the detectives saw Bell approach the driver’s side door of a black truck that was stopped on South Sixth Street. Bell and the truck’s driver exchanged pills and a plastic bag, then Bell put the pills and plastic bag in his pant pockets and walked back to the James Cayce Homes porches. Bell went back to the Nissan Altima several times. When the detectives attempted to make contact with Bell, he fled on foot. While running from detectives, Bell threw away a firearm that had been in his pants waistband. The firearm, a Glock 23 Gen5, .40 caliber pistol, was recovered, and a search of the firearm’s history revealed that it had been reported stolen. Detectives caught Bell, and during a search incident to his arrest, detectives discovered $2,180 cash and 4.2 grams of suspected oxycodone pills in a plastic bag in Bell’s pants pockets.
The Nissan Altima smelled of marijuana and detectives conducted a probable cause search of the car and discovered individual plastic bags of a green leafy substance suspected to be marijuana, a plastic bag containing 4.5 grams of a white/grey powdery substance that field-tested positive for cocaine, and a digital scale in the car’s console.
After being read his Miranda rights, Bell agreed to answer questions. Bell admitted he had a manslaughter conviction for which he was on probation. Bell told detectives he had marijuana and cocaine for sale. Bell admitted to purchasing the firearm in the Cayce area approximately two weeks earlier, and that he ran from the detectives because he had the firearm on him.
Bell has three prior felony convictions in Davidson County Criminal Court: for Reckless Aggravated Assault, for which he received a two-year sentence; Evading Arrest by Motor Vehicle, for which he received a one-year sentence; and Voluntary Manslaughter, for which he received a six-year sentence, and was placed on probation October 27, 2023.
If convicted, Bell faces a maximum of 15 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine on the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon charge, up to 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine on the drug charge, and 5 years to life in prison and a $250,000 fine on the possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime charge.
This case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel M. Stephens is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office
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