On a warm Memorial Day weekend in 2013, Patrick Leo Cotrona, a 33-year-old male, was walking with two friends to a neighborhood pub in East Atlanta. Their intended destination was the Midway Pub, a familiar spot just a block from where their evening would take a tragic turn. As they made their way along May Avenue near Flat Shoals Avenue, a man suddenly appeared and demanded their money at gunpoint.
As Cotrona reached for his wallet, the gunman fired, striking him in the abdomen.
His friend, Marcus Peden, reacted by spraying the assailant with mace. The gunman then fired again, wounding Peden in the leg before fleeing the scene in a waiting dark-colored sedan, possibly a Dodge Stratus or Intrepid. Cotrona was rushed to Atlanta Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The shooter and his accomplice escaped with nothing, not even taking Cotrona's wallet.
The investigation that followed revealed a string of similar robberies in the Kirkwood neighborhood that same night, linked by ballistic evidence to the weapon used to kill Cotrona. Despite these leads and a detailed description of the suspect—a young man believed to be around 16 at the time—the case grew cold. The Atlanta Police Department has described the case as one of the most difficult, with no new leads for many years.
In the years since the shooting, Cotrona's family has continued to seek justice. A $25,000 reward has been offered for information leading to an arrest. In 2023, on the 10th anniversary of his death, police released an age-progressed sketch of the suspect, hoping to spark new leads in the unsolved murder. To date, no arrests have been made in the case, and the identity of the man who shot and killed Patrick Cotrona remains unknown.
