Dontae Lamont Cotton, 28, was shot and killed outside his home in the Harvard Park neighborhood of South Los Angeles on January 24, 2010. He had left shortly after midnight to visit a nearby liquor store and was returning when a white sedan pulled up and a gunman fired multiple shots. One bullet struck Cotton in the lower back as he crossed his lawn toward the side door; he was pronounced dead at 12:40 a.m. despite his mother’s attempts to help.

The LAPD treated the shooting as having the hallmarks of a drive-by and initially suspected a gang-related motive, though Cotton was not known to be affiliated with any gang. Investigators considered mistaken identity or a random act of violence. No descriptions of the shooter emerged, and there were no arrests reported; the case remains unsolved. Cotton’s family remember him as a quiet homebody who cared for his relatives and had recently been laid off from work as a security guard.

Anyone who knew Dontae, saw activity near the 1600 block of West 60th Place that night, or has information about the shooting is asked to contact the LAPD.