Unsolved Murder - Reginald Eugene Yarbrough (Reggie)

DOB 9/14/83    DOD 7/20/98 - Only 14 Years Old

On the morning of July 20,1998 shortly after 8:00 a.m., the Madison County Sheriff’s Department received a call regarding the victim of an apparent homicide. A body was found near the cemetery on Bemis Cemetery Road.

The victim was identified as Reginald Eugene Yarbrough, age 14, of 123 Carson Street. It’s true the body was found near the Bemis Cemetery; but it’s believed he had been killed in another location. The shooter or shooters brought the body to this location, positioned him on the ground and then shot him again, a message was being sent.

Talking to his family, I learned that this Parkway Middle School student had always taken pride in his appearance. Until the spring of ‘98 he had been a good student, then something changed. Reggie started withdrawing. Each weekend when he would go and stay with his mother, he would ask her for twenty dollars. By Sunday, the money would be gone. He started hanging around with some of the guys in the gangs, including his cousins. The Friday before his death, his grandmother said when she got home, her grandson was lying on the floor. He had spent the afternoon mowing her yard like he did every week. When she asked him what was wrong, he wouldn’t say but she knew something was troubling him. She took him over to his Mom’s house, instead of driving off she watched as he walked up the bank into the house.

The following Monday, Mrs. Yarbrough told me she left for a conference. The bus passed by Cane Creek Road, the road that borders the Bemis Cemetery. As the bus got even with the Cemetery, a chill came over her. This seemed strange to her since she passed this way going to work every day. Feelings are sometimes unexplainable but very real.

Some of the individuals I spoke with told me Reggie didn’t want to be in a gang. He was attempting to get away from "his new friends" but it was not to be. Gangs do not like having members just walk off. They hook them with threats. They are told, "If you try to leave, we will hurt your family." Another ploy is to make them a witness to a criminal act and convince them they are guilty just for being there. If the powers feel this is not working, there is only one thing left. . . Eliminate the problem and send a message to others.

If you have any information about this or any other case we have covered please call Crime Stoppers at 424-8477 or the Jackson Police Department 425-8400.