NYPD Detective Dies After 33 Years in Coma from Shooting Incident.
NYPD Detective Troy Patterson, who was shot in the head during a botched robbery in Brooklyn in 1990, has died after spending more than three decades in a vegetative state. Patterson was off duty and washing his car when he was approached by three young men who demanded $20. One of the robbers, who was 15 years old, shot Patterson. The three would-be robbers all served prison time for charges related to the shooting and have been released.