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Family dispute turns deadly
After deputies shot the husband with a Taser, he pulls a gun. The deputies shoot, killing him.
By TAMARA EL-KHOURY, NICOLE JOHNSON and DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD
Published January 13, 2006
DUNEDIN - Sheriff's deputies trying to break up a struggle between a husband and wife Thursday shot and killed the man and apparently wounded his wife by accident, authorities said.
Pinellas County sheriff's deputies heard screams from the couple's home at 1438 Chesterfield Drive as they responded to a 10:31 a.m. 911 hangup call.
Borrowing a neighbor's ladder, four deputies climbed over the home's fence where they found Donald R. Yates, 45, and Deborah K. Yates, 42, fighting in the corner of a screened room at the back of their home.
Mrs. Yates was behind her husband during the struggle, sheriff's spokesman Mac McMullen said, and the couple did not respond to commands from the deputies. Standing 3 to 4 feet away, Deputy Jason Stibbard hit Donald Yates with a Taser.
The Taser forced Donald Yates away from his wife. That's when he pointed a .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic handgun at deputies, McMullen said.
From 6 feet away, Deputy Christine Smith and Deputy Christopher White saw the gun pointed at them and feared for their lives, McMullen said.
They fired eight rounds from their .45-caliber handguns. Donald Yates was struck several times in the legs and torso. Mrs. Yates was struck in the left leg.
McMullen said Donald Yates did not fire his weapon. It appeared that two of the deputies' rounds struck Mrs. Yates, he said.
The shooting took place in a quiet middle class neighborhood of well-kept, well-landscaped ranch homes near the Toronto Blue Jay's spring training complex. The Yates' home has wind chimes and a little windmill in the front yard and firewood stacked in front of the garage.
Neighbors said they heard the shots about 10:45 a.m.
"I opened the door, and there was an army out here," said Marcia Patton, 52. "I heard Debbie screaming. Then I heard pop-pop-pop-pop-pop."
The couple was flown to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg where Donald Yates died and Deborah Yates was listed in serious condition late Thursday, McMullen said.
McMullen said it appears Deborah Yates was trying to prevent her husband from killing himself.
Both deputies who fired their weapons were placed on nondisciplinary paid administrative leave, McMullen said. A fourth deputy, Cpl. John Davis, was injured climbing over the fence.
None of the deputies have been involved in a shooting before, according to McMullen.
In the past six months, deputies have responded to three calls at the Yates residence. In July, they responded for a report of family trouble. In October, they responded to a reported battery. Information on a third incident in November wasn't released.
Donald Yates is one of nine children who grew up in St. Petersburg and Gulfport, according to his older brother, local wildlife trapper Vernon Yates. He liked to play the tough guy but would give you the shirt off his back if he liked you. Or he could be your worst nightmare if he didn't.
"If you look at the family tree it's a Jerry Springer show," Vernon Yates said.
Deborah Yates entered the family in 1980 when she married another of Yates' brothers, Richard Lee Yates. She was 16, he was 17. They divorced three years later but were remarried in 1992. The marriage ended for good in November 1998.
The couple has two sons, Richard Lee Yates Jr. 24, and Alfred Michael Yates, 11.
In February 2004, Deborah Yates married Donald Yates, her former husband's brother. It was Donald Yates' third marriage. He has a son and two daughters from his first two marriages.
Donald Yates worked at a dental lab in Oldsmar. After a heart attack about 10 years ago, Vernon Yates said Donald Yates decided to live for today because there may not be a tomorrow.
He bought a couple of Harley-Davidson motorcycles and had his girls decked out in leather Harley garb while they were still toddlers.
His other joy was his 1970 Monte Carlo.
Still, trouble found its way to 1438 Chesterfield Drive. The call deputies responded to Oct. 25 was to arrest Deborah Yates after she hit her son Richard with a fist and plastic telephone, according to records. She pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to appear in court on that charge March 15.
Vernon Yates doesn't believe his brother was suicidal. All the Yates boys have gun collections in their homes, he said. Donald Yates seemed fine when they spoke just before Christmas, Vernon Yates said, and his brother loved his kids and his motorcycles.
He said his sympathies went out to his nieces and the sheriff's deputies who fired.
"Donald, I'm sure, had the option to put the gun down and he didn't," he said.
Mrs. Yates skates with the family's grade school-aged daughters, neighbors said. The family has four dogs, including two bloodhounds, three birds and two ferrets.
"They loved their animals, they were very good to their animals and their children; the kids got everything they wanted," said neighbor Sherri Pauline, 59. "And if you needed anything, Don was there to help you."
Times staff writer Jacob H. Fries and researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report.
[Last modified January 13, 2006, 01:45:18]
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