Defendant found guilty of 2021 double homicide

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE OFFICE OF DISTRICT ATTORNEY GENERAL FREDERICK H. AGEE:

3 hours ago

WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News Staff,

Defendant Found Guilty of 2021 Double Homicide

On September 11, 2025, after a three-day trial in the Circuit Court of Gibson County in Trenton, a jury found Frederick Cottrell Yates (24) Guilty of murdering Diamond Love (20) and Marcus Smith Jr. (21) on Wilburn Nelson Road in Milan which occurred on August 23, 2021.

Yates

Yates was found Guilty of all 12 Counts of the indictment, which included:

Two Counts of First-Degree Murder
Two Counts of Felony Murder
Especially Aggravated Burglary
Two Counts of Employing a Firearm during the Commission of a Dangerous Felony
Two Counts of Conspiracy to Commit First Degree Murder
Two Counts of Facilitation of First-Degree Murder
Tampering with Evidence

Yates shall be sentenced to Life to Serve in the Tennessee Department of Correction for the Murder Counts and shall be sentenced by the Honorable Clayburn Peeples for the other Counts on January 12, 2026.

Yates also faces the possibility of consecutive life sentences and up to an additional 43 years in prison which will all be decided by Judge Peeples.

“We want to thank the Jury for their public service and deliberation. This was an especially senseless domestic violent act that took the lives of Diamond Love (20) and Marcus Smith Jr. (21) who had their whole lives ahead of them. Our office will continue to prioritize removing violent offenders from Crockett, Gibson, and Haywood counties.”
Frederick H. Agee, District Attorney General

This case was prosecuted by District Attorney General Frederick H. Agee, Assistant District Attorney Nina Seiler, and Assistant District Attorney Miller Edgin.

Pictured: District Attorney General and Staff with the families of Diamond Love and Marcus Smith Jr.

Special thanks to DA Investigator Jimmy Wilson, DA Victim Witness Coordinator Carol Oliver, DA Staff Dawn Morrow, DA Staff Xochilt Joyner, TBI Special Agents Cathy Ferguson, Andy Vallee, Bobby Simmons and Adam Mathis, TBI Lab Agents, Rutherford Police Chief Nick Milan, Lt. Investigator Maigon Shanklin, Investigator Brad Oliver, Deputy James Patton.

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