KERN COUNTY, Calif. — Just one week after a passer-by discovered a black man hanging from a tree in California, his half-brother has died in a shootout with sheriff's deputies, multiple news outlets are reporting.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Terron Boone, whose half-brother, Robert Fuller, was found dead in Palmdale on June 10, was killed Wednesday in a shooting that involved Los Angeles County deputies, authorities and a family attorney said.
Here's what we know about two Black men, both found hanging from trees in recent weeks.
— Veronica Miracle (@ABC7Veronica) June 15, 2020
Robert Fuller, 24, was found hanging from a tree in front of Palmdale City Hall in the early morning on June 10th.
Investigators say it appears to be a suicide. pic.twitter.com/LcHzD789Hk
“This afternoon, I had to notify the sisters of Robert Fuller that their half-brother Terron Jammal Boone was killed by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in Kern County,” the attorney, Jamon Hicks, said in a statement obtained by CNN late Wednesday.
"At this time, until we receive all of the information, the family and their legal team doesn't have any further comment on this incident. The family respectfully asks that their privacy be respected."
Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Robert Westphal told the Times that deputies and a suspect in a false imprisonment case exchanged fire about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday during a traffic stop in Rosamond. The suspect, who was a passenger in the car, fired a semiautomatic handgun toward deputies multiple times before they shot back, striking his chest, Westphal said. The man died from his injuries.
A woman who had been driving the vehicle suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was treated at a nearby hospital, Westphal told the Times. A child in the car's backseat was unhurt, he said.
Although Westphal did not reveal the slain suspect's name, authorities had charged Boone earlier this week with false imprisonment, assault and other crimes, the Times reported, citing court records.
News of Boone’s death came just days after the Sheriff’s Department said Fuller, 24, appeared to have hanged himself. Family members and protesters questioned the claim, calling for further investigation into what they believe was a lynching. Officials later pledged to conduct a full investigation, according to the Times.
L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and other officials provided updates on the investigation into the death of Robert Fuller, a Black man who was found hanging from a tree in Palmdale. https://t.co/HghOw5EITq pic.twitter.com/1EbTTBYDAS
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) June 15, 2020
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