Everett A. Whitaker, 43, of southwest Atlanta, died in a homicide that the Washington Post's database dates to Saturday, June 30, 2007. A family death notice published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says he "died suddenly on June 29, 2007," which suggests he was attacked late on Friday, June 29, or that his death was recorded the following day. The Atlanta Police Department investigated.
Almost nothing about how he died has been made public.
No news story describing the killing could be found for this account. The record does not say how he was killed, whether he was attacked at home or on the street, whether he knew his attacker, whether anyone else was hurt, or whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital. No suspect description, vehicle or motive has been released, and no reward offer could be found.
The death notice offers a few facts about his life. It describes him as Mr. Everett A. Whitaker of SW Atlanta, and his funeral arrangements were handled by Murray Brothers Cascade Chapel, a funeral home on the southwest side of the city. The notice does not list survivors in the portion available, but a man of 43 would likely have left behind family, friends and co-workers who remember him.
Everett Whitaker's name also appears in a 2018 Washington Post investigation that listed thousands of homicide victims in major American cities whose killings had not led to an arrest. His case also appears on online cold-case and victim-profile pages that carry the Post's record and list his case as an active, unsolved murder in Atlanta.
Everett Whitaker is also a name shared by several other people, including an engineer with the Tennessee Valley Authority, a golfer from Chattanooga and men named in obituaries in other states. None of them is the 43-year-old who died in Atlanta, and their records crowd out any trace of his own story.
The location recorded in the database places his death in far southwest Atlanta, an area of residential streets near the city's western edge. People who lived there at the end of June 2007 may remember the police activity that followed, and may know where Everett was and who he saw that evening.
Atlanta, the capital of Georgia and the center of a metro area of more than 5 million people, recorded roughly 75 to 130 homicides a year between 2007 and 2017. Most victims were young men killed with guns, and many of those killings never led to an arrest. Cases with few public details, like his, often faded from view quickly.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Everett Whitaker could be found in news archives or public records. More than 19 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Everett Whitaker in southwest Atlanta, saw him on June 29 or 30, 2007, or heard talk afterward of what happened to him, may be able to help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a car seen leaving the area or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the Atlanta Police Department Homicide Unit at 404-546-4235, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta at 404-577-TIPS (404-577-8477), which may pay a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest.
