Barchuntae Pugh was 33 years old when he was killed in Atlanta on Friday, November 2, 2007. The Atlanta Police Department investigated his death, and the Washington Post's homicide database, which tracked killings in Atlanta from 2007 through 2017, lists it as a homicide that remained open with no arrest.
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 what time of day it happened, whether he was attacked indoors or outdoors, whether he knew his attacker, whether anyone else was hurt, or whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital.
His case is listed in the Project Cold Case database, a national registry of unsolved homicides. The listing gives his age as 33, records the case as a murder reported on November 2, 2007, and lists the suspect's name, the cause of death and the location all as unknown. It directs tips to the Atlanta Police Department. Online cold-case listings that carry the Post's record also list his death as a murder.
A family-placed death notice for Barchuntae Pugh was published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, with arrangements by Gus Thornhill's Funeral Home in East Point. Because his first name is so unusual, there is little doubt that it refers to him. The notice shows that a family arranged a service and mourned him, though the available portion does not name survivors.
Barchuntae Pugh'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.
The location recorded in the database places his death in southwest Atlanta, near the city's western edge, a largely residential area of single-family streets and apartment complexes. His death came on a Friday in early November 2007. People who lived nearby may remember the police response, and people who knew a man with such a distinctive name are likely to remember him.
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 often faded from view quickly.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Barchuntae Pugh could be found in news archives or public records. More than 18 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Barchuntae Pugh, saw him in the days before he died, 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.
