Marcus Mercado was 29 and a father of two when he was shot to death on February 11, 2023, near a convenience store at 9834 Meadowglen Lane in Houston. Witnesses said Mercado approached 20-year-old Michael Coates and a heated argument followed. Surveillance footage showed Coates draw a pistol, shoot Mercado multiple times, and then stand over the fallen man and fire additional shots to his head before fleeing on foot.

After the killing, Coates carried out an armed carjacking about two hours later, taking a vehicle from a 75-year-old woman after threatening her and her 77-year-old husband. Three days after the murder he committed another armed robbery; investigators linked a stolen laptop from that crime to Coates’s apartment, where they recovered a Glock 9mm later identified as the murder weapon. Coates was arrested March 22, 2023, and was convicted of murder and sentenced to 80 years in prison in August 2024; he must serve at least 30 years before parole eligibility.

Did anyone in the Meadowglen Lane area see Marcus or notice the confrontation that day?