Stepdad of battered woman fatally shoots attacker, deputies say

Michael Cates, 48, charged with 2nd-degree murder

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – A 48-year-old man was arrested Tuesday in the shooting death of a man in Lady Lake over the weekend.

According to the Lake County Sheriff's Office, Jeremy Yelton, 25, was walking along Griffin View Drive just before midnight Saturday when Michael Cates, 48, shot him.

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Deputies said Cates confronted Yelton with a baseball bat along the road after learning Yelton had battered Cates' stepdaughter.

After a struggle ensued, Cates used a handgun he was carrying to shoot Yelton, deputies said.

Cates was also wounded by a minor gunshot. Yelton died at the scene.

Cates is charged with second-degree murder. He was taken to the Lake County Detention Center, where he is being held on a $50,000 bond.


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Dawn Jorgenson, Graham Media Group Branded Content Managing Editor, began working with the group in April 2013. She graduated from Texas State University with a degree in electronic media.

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