Memorial service planned for slain Raleigh cabdriver

Raleigh, N.C. — A memorial service will be held Monday morning for a Raleigh cabdriver shot to death during an attempted robbery last week.

The service for Michael Howard Palmer, 59, will be held at 11 a.m. in the C. A. Haywood Sr. Memorial Chapel at the Haywood Funeral Home, 2415 S. Wilmington St. in Raleigh. Palmer's remains will be cremated.

Investigators say that four men – Eugene Dumas, 19, Xavia Barnes, 17, Alexander Gonzales, 19, and Jayshon Norment, 19, all of Raleigh – shot and killed Palmer in the parking lot of the Quail Ridge Apartments, of Falls of Neuse Road, Monday night. He had just given a ride to a woman from the downtown Greyhound Bus station.

Palmer drove for AAA Cabs for two months. Family members said he had worked as a cabdriver his whole adult life.

Palmer graduated from J.W. Ligon High School in Raleigh.

A memorial fund has been set up for Palmer's family. Donations and contributions can be made to The Michael Palmer Fund at any Wachovia Bank in North Carolina.

According to Haywood Funeral Home, Palmer is survived by a daughter, Vonise Palmer; former wife, Cynthia Palmer; brothers, Andre' and wife Cynthia and Juan Hinton; and cousin, Henri Glover and wife Angela.