In the warm, late-spring evening of May 25, 2013, Patrick Cotrona, a 33-year-old male, was enjoying a walk with two friends in his East Atlanta Village neighborhood. A graduate of Georgia Tech, he had carved out a life for himself in the community he had grown to love. Their destination was a local bar, a casual outing on a Memorial Day weekend that would soon turn into a tragedy that would haunt the city for years to come.
As they made their way along May Avenue, the streetlights were unexpectedly out, casting an eerie darkness on their path. It was in this darkness that they were suddenly confronted by an armed man who demanded their money.
The armed assailant, in a senseless act of violence, opened fire, fatally wounding Patrick and injuring one of his friends. The gunman then fled the scene, disappearing into a waiting four-door sedan. The community was left in shock, grappling with the randomness and brutality of the crime that had claimed the life of a beloved friend and neighbor. Investigators quickly descended on the scene, beginning a decade-long search for answers and justice for Patrick Cotrona. The initial investigation uncovered a string of armed robberies that had occurred in the nearby Kirkwood neighborhood just prior to the fatal shooting. Ballistic evidence and witness descriptions linked the same suspect to these earlier crimes, painting a picture of a perpetrator on a violent spree.
Despite the efforts of the Atlanta Police Department, the case grew cold. A sketch of the suspect, a Black male believed to be in his late teens or early twenties at the time of the murder, was circulated, and a substantial reward was offered for any information leading to an arrest. Years passed, and while tips came in, none led to a breakthrough in the case. The lead detective on the case has kept it active, and in a renewed effort to generate new leads on the tenth anniversary of Patrick's death, an age-progressed sketch of the suspect was released to the public, showing what he might look like in his late 20s or early 30s. To this day, no arrests have been made, and the identity of the man who took Patrick Cotrona's life remains a mystery. His family and the community continue to hold out hope that someone will come forward with the information needed to finally bring his killer to justice.
