Fayetteville, North Carolina, was rocked late Friday night when a 25-year-old motorcyclist lost his life in a busy intersection crash that left friends and family struggling to understand how a routine ride turned fatal. The victim, identified as Ean Alexander Gaskins, was riding his motorcycle south on Ramsey Street with the light in his favor when everything changed.
It was around 10:17 p.m. when Gaskins, on his 2025 Honda CB750, entered the intersection of Ramsey Street and Fernwood Drive. Eyewitnesses say traffic was moving normally, and the night was clear. As Gaskins crossed through the green light, a 2013 Nissan Altima turned left off Ramsey onto Fernwood and struck him with devastating force.
The impact left Gaskins critically injured. First responders rushed to the scene within minutes, but he was pronounced dead right there at the intersection. The shock of losing someone so young in such a sudden way rippled through the community, especially among the riders and people who knew him.
Investigators quickly noticed the Nissan Altima had fled. Police pursued leads and located the abandoned car a short distance from the crash site. Officers pieced together the evidence and identified the driver as 43-year-old Roberto Coton Jr. of Cameron.
Coton was taken into custody and now faces a long list of charges, including death by motor vehicle, felony hit and run, driving under the influence, failure to yield, no insurance, and driving with expired registration and inspection. He was booked into the Cumberland County Detention Center with bond set at $675,000.
Family and friends of Gaskins described him as full of life, someone who loved riding and had dreams he was working toward. The suddenness of his death left a void that words struggle to fill. Talk among his circle centers on how preventable the tragedy seemed and how one choice changed so many lives forever.
Police continue their investigation and are asking anyone with information to come forward. The community hopes that by sharing what they know, answers and some measure of closure can come for the Gaskins family.
