Abron Cook was 36 years old when he was killed in Atlanta on Friday, June 24, 2011. 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.
A short death notice published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution confirms the basic facts: "Abron Cook, 36, died June 24." It said his funeral would be held at 11:30 a.m.
on a Friday at Sims Avenue Church of Christ, with Knox Funeral Home handling arrangements. A memorial page gives his full name as Abron Devon Cook and his years as 1974 to 2011. The notice does not describe his family or his work, and it says nothing about how he died. No news story about his death could be found.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say how he was killed, exactly where it happened, whether he knew the person responsible, or whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital. It does not say whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
His funeral at a neighborhood church suggests he had a congregation and a family who gathered to remember him. He was killed on a Friday in late June, at the start of a summer weekend. At 36, he was older than many of the young men killed in Atlanta in those years.
His case still appears on CrimeTea, an online cold-case listing, which carries his death as an active, unsolved murder in Atlanta. Abron is an unusual first name, which means that people who knew him would recognize it at once.
The location recorded in the Post's database places his death in northwest Atlanta, on the city's Westside. People who lived or worked in that area in June 2011 may remember Abron Cook, and may remember the police activity that followed his death.
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 in those years were young men, and most were killed with guns. Many killings from those years never led to an arrest, and the Washington Post's 2018 investigation counted Atlanta among the cities with large numbers of unsolved homicides. Cases with few public details, like his, often faded from view quickly.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Abron Cook could be found in news archives or public records. More than 15 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Abron Cook, who attended Sims Avenue Church of Christ with him, or who 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.
