20/20 The After Show: Murder at the U
Mar 9, 2026
Mike Schultz, a producer who covered the Pata family and courtroom developments. Paula Lavigne, an investigative reporter whose work helped revive the Brian Pata cold case. They walk through the investigation’s twists, courtroom drama leading to a mistrial, the family’s trauma, and what comes next in the retrial and legal fight.
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Brian Pata's Promising Rise And Tragic Death
- Brian Pata was a promising 22-year-old University of Miami football player poised for the 2007 NFL Draft when he was found shot to death on November 7, 2006.
- Paula Lavigne and Mike Schultz recount his rise from a single-mom Haitian household with eight siblings to a college star whose death shocked the community.
Media Attention Forced Reexamination Of A Cold Case
- Miami-Dade PD contacted ESPN in 2017 hoping national attention would produce new leads, which instead led ESPN to investigate the quality of the original probe.
- Paula Lavigne says the Pata family's angry 2017 press conference spurred ESPN to search records and interviews revealing investigative gaps.
Sports As A Lifeline For The Pata Family
- The Pata family moved often for safety, and sports became the siblings' route out of unstable neighborhoods and into college opportunities.
- Mike Schultz describes how athletics kept the kids off the streets and offered scholarships they otherwise couldn't afford.