— Durham County prosecutors have dropped a murder charge against a Chapel Hill man after a key witness in the 2016 case was killed.

Curtis Marcel Barnette, 41, was charged in the June 30, 2016, death of Reginald Cole.

Cole, 50, was found shot to death in a parking lot at 119 E. Cornwallis Road.

"An essential witness for the state has been killed," prosecutors wrote in the dismissal form last month. "Without the testimony of the now-deceased witness, the state cannot present sufficient credible evidence to prove all elements of the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt. Should additional credible and admissible evidence arise, the state will consider re-filing charges against the [defendant]."

John Kenneth Mason, 58, a witness in the case against Barnette, was found stabbed to death on April 28 near the intersection of South Roxboro Street and East Cornwallis Road.