In the early morning hours of a Sunday in October 2010, a neighbor on West Lake Drive in northwest Atlanta called 911 after hearing sounds from a carport. Responding officers arrived just before 3:30 a.m. and found 38-year-old David C. Atkins, Jr. beaten and shot to death with a fatal gunshot wound to his chest. Investigators determined a struggle had occurred inside the home he shared with a roommate and noted there were no signs of forced entry.

Police immediately focused on Atkins’ roommate as a person of interest and searched for that individual. The investigation into David Atkins’ death remains without a publicly reported resolution.