Ohio Mourns Deputy Matthew Yates, Gunned Down in Trailer Park

Across Ohio’s Clark County, Sheriff’s Deputy Matthew Yates could’ve been called “You good?” because that caring question was his calling card.

“Matt loved to wrestle around, but he’d always pick you up, dust you off, and make sure to ask you if you were good,” Deputy Matthew Ayers said during funeral services for Yates on Monday, Aug. 1, at First Christian Church in Springfield.

Yates, 41, was gunned down July 24 in the Harmony Estates Mobile Home Park in Harmony Township after responding to a domestic violence call concerning an armed woman who’d allegedly broken into a man’s trailer.

Clark County Sheriff Deborah K. Burchett told reporters that her arriving deputies were “met with gunfire” and that Yates went down inside the residence, although it remains unclear who the shooter was.

Roughly three hours into the standoff, Clark County Special Operations Team members evacuated the deputy in an armored vehicle. He was rushed to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton by a CareFlight helicopter, but he died later that day.

The mobile home erupted in flames. Investigators believe two people died inside the trailer. Authorities have not released their names.

Yates was a 15-year veteran of the department and a member of the Special Operations Team, too.

“Deputy Matthew Yates leaves behind a legacy that each and every one of us will be proud to achieve,” Maj. Chris Clark, the team’s commander, told mourners on Monday.

Yates was born Nov. 25, 1980, to Eugene Yates and Lisa Yates (née Williams) in Springfield, Ohio.

He is survived by his wife, Tracy; parents; daughter, A’kaylehana; sons, Anthony Reed and Andrew Reed; and siblings, Lisa, Rochelle, Martin, Anthony, Stephen, and Walter.

He was entombed in the Ferncliff Cemetery and Aboretum’s mausoleum following Monday’s funeral service.

Noelle Wiehe

Noelle is an award-winning journalist from Cincinnati, Ohio, who came to Coffee or Die Magazine following a fellowship from Military Veterans in Journalism. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and has strived to be a military journalist ever since her internships with the US Army Cadet Command in college. She worked as a civilian journalist covering several units, including the 75th Ranger Regiment on Fort Benning, before she joined the military herself and served as a public affairs specialist attached to the 3rd Infantry Division. She deployed once to fill a role as a media analyst for the Special Operations Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve in Kuwait. She has a passion for sharing stories of heroes and people who are far more interesting than they think they are. She follows where the job takes her, but currently resides on the East Coast in Georgia.