Dave Yates

City Marshal Dave Yates was shot and killed while investigating the sounds of gunfire. He stopped two men he saw to ask them about the shots. One of the men, who was drunk along with the other, produced a gun and shot Marshal Yates. The gunman and his companion were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. The Tennessee Supreme Court ordered a new trial for his companion. He was convicted of accessory after the fact to murder and sentenced to 20 years. In 1925 the supreme court again ordered a new trial with the recommendation that the case be dismissed if the only evidence was that which was used in the second trial. At the same time Governor Austin Peay commuted the gunman's sentence to life.