The family of Robert Fuller, the young Black man found hanging from a tree in Palmdale Calif., is mourning the loss of another loved one. Fuller’s half brother was killed by deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Wednesday (June 17).
According to KTLA, the family identified the deceased as Terron Jamaal Boone. Fuller and Boone shared the same mother.
“This afternoon I had to notify the sisters of Robert Fuller that their half-brother Terron Jamaal Boone was killed by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in Kern County,” attorney Jamon Hicks said in a statement.
“At this time, until we receive all of the information, the family an their legal team doesn’t have any further comment on this incident. That family respectfully asks that their privacy be respected.”
Boone was killed at around 4:30 p.m. local time, during an alleged shootout with police in Kern County. Deputies were searching for an apparent suspect accused of kidnapping, spousal assault, and assault with a deadly weapon when they spotted Boone in a vehicle. According to the LAC Sheriff’s department, deputies followed Boone before attempting to pull him over. They claim that he began shooting at police as soon as he opened the car door. A woman in the vehicle was shot in the chest but is expected to survive. There was also a 7-year-old girl in the car who was not injured in the shooting.
The incident is not connected to the investigation into Fuller’s death, authorities said. Fuller’s death was ruled a suicide but authorities are still looking into the case.
The 24 year old was one of multiple Black men around the nation to be found hanging from a trees in the last few weeks. The list includes a Black teen found hanging from a tree in Texas on Wednesday, and Malcolm Harsch, who was found hanged in Victorville, Calif. late last month.