In the late summer of Milan, Tennessee, a young woman's life was tragically cut short in an act of violence that also claimed the life of a young man. Diamond Nicole Love, a 20-year-old Black female, was found deceased in her home on Wilbur Nelson Road on August 23, 2021. Alongside her was 21-year-old Marcus Smith Jr. of Humboldt. The discovery of their bodies prompted a joint investigation by the Gibson County Sheriff's Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
The investigation
soon focused on Diamond's former boyfriend, Frederick Yates Jr., who was 20 years old at the time. Evidence gathered by law enforcement and witness statements reportedly placed Yates at the scene of the crime. A history of volatility in his relationship with Love made him a primary suspect in the double homicide. The nature of their deaths was determined to be by fatal shootings.
Following the investigation, authorities secured warrants for the arrest of Frederick Yates Jr. He was located and taken into custody in Ringgold, Georgia, with the assistance of the United States Marshals Service. On October 15, 2021, a Gibson County Grand Jury returned indictments against Yates, charging him with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of especially aggravated burglary, and one count of use of a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony. He was served with the arrest warrants while incarcerated in the Dyer County Jail and continues to be held without bond as the legal proceedings against him unfold.
