Remembering Donald Coates

Thirty years ago today Donald E Coates 3rd was born to Donald Coates and Deborah Bell. Unfortunately his life was taken at an early age of 20, when he was fatally shot by an Anne Arundel County rookie officer. Despite claims that Donald Coates posed a threat to officers, the county settled out of court but the officer was found not criminally responsible.

An early article on the case found that Coates, whom was naked and unarmed,was shot in the face, the chest, the back of the neck and the back of his left forearm. “One of those shots, grazed his chest, a medical examiner found. The medical examiner found no powder burns on Coates’s body and concluded in an autopsy report that “there was no evidence of close-range discharge of a firearm surrounding any of the gunshot wounds.”

According to Thomas Mauriello, a criminologist at the University of Maryland who is not involved in the case, that finding suggests that Pleasant’s weapon was at least three or four feet from Coates when the shots were fired.

There are additional articles below, including the statement of the officer. None the less, please let’s not let the life of Donald Coates go in vein. Donald is survived by two beautiful children, Kyron and Deondre, who will never have a chance to have their father play basketball. Donald has many siblings; Shyel, Malik, Shylika, Ronisha, Brandon, and Shelton who mourn every day. Two parents who wished they would never see a child go before them and a lot of family and friends whose lives have been altered since he was killed.

Donald you are loved and missed every day. Your father Donald JR wants you to know that he loves you and misses you.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/03/AR200602...

http://m.washingtonexaminer.com/anne-arundel-settling-lawsuit-in-police-...

http://m.washingtonexaminer.com/anne-arundel-settling-lawsuit-in-police-...