The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lawsuits filed over shootings target hospital, doctor’s office
Husband of woman who died, survivor cite earlier crimes.
Northside Hospital and a Midtown Atlanta doctor’s office are among those who should be held responsible for a deadly shooting, according to two lawsuits filed this week in DeKalb County State Court.
The shootings on May 3, 2023, killed one woman, Amy St. Pierre, and critically injured four others inside the Northside Medical Building. Investigators said a Coast Guard veteran with a his- tory of mental health issues opened fire inside a doctor’s office before stealing a vehicle and leaving the area, launching a manhunt that ended hours later in Cobb County. Deion Duwane Pat- terson was arrested about eight hours after the shootings. He remains in custody in Fulton County, facing one charge of murder and four counts of aggravated assault.
The lawsuits were filed by St. Pierre’s husband and by survivor Alesha Hollinger, who was shot as she stepped off an elevator. They claim that Northside, the doctor’s group and the security com- pany at the building knew of crimes in the area before the shooting.
“Prior to and on May 3, 2023, there had been reports of incidents of dangerous criminal activity at and near the premises and other sim- ilar premises owned, occu- pied, operated, managed and/or controlled by defen- dants, about which defen- dants knew, or by the exercise of reasonable care should have known,” both lawsuits state.
Northside, Laureate Medi- cal Group, Healthpeak Prop- erties and Markman Secu- rity are among the defen- dants named in the lawsuits. Both suits seek a jury trial and unspecified damages.
The defendants have not yet responded to the law- suits, court documents showed.
“As we mark this day, we pray for those who experi- enced loss and for the con- tinuing recovery of those who were injured, and we embrace those who bore wit- ness to the event,” Northside said in a statement on the anniversary of the shoot- ings. “Our health care pro- viders encounter challeng- ing experiences every day, and they continue to demon- strate their remarkable abil- ity to handle these situations. In the past year, Northsiders have managed both emotions and heartache, while never losing focus on their jobs to care for patients.”
St. Pierre, 38, was a mar- ried mother of two and was passionate about social justice and helping others, according to a friend and co-worker at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She had ridden her bike to a doctor’s appointment. Moments after texting a friend to wish her a happy birthday, she was shot and killed.
Hollinger, an Acworth mother of three, told the AJC this month that she has been through a year of surgeries, doctor visits and therapy. She is grateful to be alive but feels remorseful at times that she survived.
“Her life was senselessly taken away,” Hollinger said of St. Pierre. “And that’s for me one of the hardest things I’ve had to accept. We had similar injuries, both shot in the head. One of us lives, one of us does not.”
Also injured were Lisa Glynn, Georgette Whitlow and Jazzmin Daniel. Police said Glynn was shot in the abdomen, Whitlow was shot in the arm, and Daniel was hit multiple times in the abdomen area.