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Karen Patterson

Case from Charleston, SC dated Oct 27, 1985

Victim Details

Karen Patterson

Female

Black / African American

Charleston

SC

1985-10-27

13

Karen

Patterson

06/29/2026

Case Description

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Karen Patterson was a 13-year-old Black girl from North Charleston, South Carolina, whose life was stolen in the early hours of October 27, 1985, in an attack that shattered both her family and her neighborhood. She lived in a small tenant house behind a duplex, sharing the home with her parents, Aaron Polite and Fatha Patterson. Their landlord’s son, Joseph Ernest Atkins, lived in one side of the duplex, while his elderly adoptive father, Benjamin Atkins, lived in the other. For months, there ...
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Links to Additional Sources (8)

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  • https://murderpedia.org/male.A/images/a/atkins_joseph_ernest/clemency.pdf
  • Newspapers.com: Death Penalty Upheld (Benjamin Frank Atkins and Karen Patterson 1985) 1990 - Newspapers.com
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    Forum Posts (3)

    Has anyone else looked into the tragic details surrounding the neighborhood dynamics before the horr... ...Read More
    01/10/2025
    I’ve been thinking a lot about how this case affected Karen Patterson's neighborhood in Charleston... ...Read More
    04/15/2023
    I’ve been following Karen Patterson’s case, and the trial coverage still haunts me, especially t... ...Read More
    03/26/2023
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