Lisa Atkins Was Working As A Clerk At Village Pet Mart In Arizona When She Was Gunned Down By A Hooded Stranger.

Lisa LeAnne Atkins

She was fun-loving and absolutely adored animals. One of the animals she loved was a parrot.

Lisa was born in 1966 to Joseph Mercure and Martha Demaniou.

On April 4th, 1988, 22-year-old Lisa was working as a store clerk at the Village Pet Mart on 3684 W. Orange Grove Road in Arizona. She had just ended a telephone call with her mother, who was babysitting her 13-month-old son, when a hooded stranger walked in. 

Lisa and a male clerk were standing at the checkout counter when the hooded man pulled out a gun and demanded money. The nervous male clerk fumbled with the keys to open the register and dropped them. When he bent down to retrieve the keys, the robber shot and killed Lisa.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department had a detailed enough description of the killer to release a sketch. He was a bearded man with sandy brown or dark blond hair, age 25 to 30, standing 5-foot-11 and weighing about 170 pounds. They think he was driving a green, older model pickup truck with wooden sides or a white camper shell.

Despite the description of the killer, Lisa's case remains unsolved.

"It's been so long it's almost like the memories are gone, I'm afraid," Martha said.

Lisa's son is all grown up and married with children.