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Vann Lee Yates, 57, was shot to death in his backyard at 1603 E. Fairfield Road on Jan. 21, 2015, after two young men asked about buying a lawn mower and the encounter became an armed robbery, according to the Guilford County Sheriff's Office.

Yates was outside his High Point-area home working with a friend when the men walked up. Deputies said one of the men pulled a handgun and shot Yates in the chest.

Yates' friend ran from the yard and got help as deputies converged on the property. Investigators used a police aircraft and K9 units to search the area and determined the two suspects had fled on foot to a getaway car, a small tan Honda driven by a woman.

Detectives believe the same two men were responsible for two robberies the day before, on Prospect Street and on Springfield Road, also in Guilford County. Composite sketches released after the shooting described both suspects as young Black men, one with a scar or mark under his right eye. Neither had been identified.

The Guilford County Sheriff's Office and Crime Stoppers of Greater Greensboro have asked anyone with information to come forward. No one has been arrested.