A grand jury has indicted a suspect accused of a deadly shooting spree inside a Midtown Atlanta medical office three months ago, according to the Fulton County district attorney.
Deion Duwane Patterson, 24, was arrested hours after the shooting that killed one woman and critically injured four others. The May 3 incident at the Northside Medical Midtown building happened inside the Laureate Medical Group’s office.
Late last week, Patterson was indicted on 17 charges, including murder, felony murder, four counts of attempted murder and five counts of aggravated assault. He was also indicted for aggravated battery, criminal damage to property, theft by taking and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, the indictment states. Patterson remained late Tuesday in the Fulton jail, where he has been held without bond since his arrest.
Investigators said they believe Patterson was a patient, but was turned away when he arrived late for an appointment and then shot the women before leading officers on a massive manhunt. After allegedly stealing a vehicle and leaving Atlanta, Patterson was arrested eight hours later in Cobb County.
The shooting killed Amy St. Pierre, 38, and injured Lisa Glynn, Georgette Whitlow, Jazzmin Daniel and Alesha Hollinger, who range in age from 25 to 71. According to police, Glynn was shot in the abdomen, Whitlow was shot in the arm, Daniel was hit multiple times in the abdomen area and Hollinger was shot in the face. The four injured women were later released after being treated at Grady Memorial Hospital.
St. Pierre, who lived in Virginia-Highland with her husband, Julian, and their 7-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son, worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“So much of the hard work that Amy put in to make the world kinder and more loved-filled was to make the world better for the people she loved,” Julie Zaharatos, St. Pierre’s friend and colleague, said at her funeral. “We may never comprehend why someone who constantly worked to make others’ lives better had her own life taken so soon.”
Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office
After the shooting, Patterson’s mother said in an interview with The Associated Press that her son was having a “mental break.” She declined an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Patterson was discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard in January and wanted to be prescribed the anxiety medication Ativan, his mother said. But his Veterans Affairs medical team declined to give it to him, fearing he could become addicted, according to the report.
“Those families, those families,” she said, starting to sob. “They’re hurting because they wouldn’t give my son his damn Ativan. Those families lost their loved ones because he had a mental break because they wouldn’t listen to me.”
About the Author
