‘Destructive kid from the projects’ turned coach found dead in car off Durham highway

Martha Quillin
·2 min read

A Durham man was killed Sunday afternoon in a shooting off Interstate 85 near Hillandale Road.

Officers from the Durham Police Department and the N.C. Highway Patrol responded to a call about a suspicious vehicle on the off ramp from northbound I-85 shortly after 12:50 p.m., the department said in a release. When officers arrived, they found Reshaun Cates, 44, had been shot. Emergency responders pronounced Cates dead at the scene.

Police say the shooting does not appear to be a random act, suggesting Cates knew the person who shot him. Officers are investigating and ask anyone with information to contact J. Kellar at 919-560-4440, ext. 29306, or CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200. CrimeStoppers pays cash rewards to anonymous sources for information leading to arrests in felony cases.

Cates, known by the nickname “Marbles,” had served more than 10 years in prison after pleading guilty in 2009 to charges of second-degree murder and armed robbery.

He was one of three men charged in the case, in which Eva Marie Johnson Jacobs, 49, of the Cedar Grove community in Orange County was shot during a break-in at her home. Investigators said the robbery and shooting on Nov. 26, 2007, involved a few hundred dollars’ worth of marijuana and a shotgun. Cates was sentenced to 12 to 16 years in prison.

Also charged in that case were Doné Octavous Johnson of Hillsborough and Montez Antonio Stevons of Durham.

N.C. Department of Correction records indicate Cates was released in 2020, and family members say he returned to Durham, where last spring he coached a youth basketball team in a public housing development.

On his Facebook page, Cates posted a photo of himself with members of the team and said, “I feel good about this one. Who would’ve ever thought this gang banging destructive kid from the project’s would come back and coach a basketball team in the projects?”

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