ATLANTA (AP) — The teenage brother of a U.S. Air Force airman who was shot and killed in his home by a Florida sheriff’s deputy in May has been killed in a shooting in the Atlanta area, police said.

Andre Fortson, Senior Airman Roger Fortson’s 16-year-old brother, was killed this week in DeKalb County, near Atlanta’s east side, DeKalb County police said in an update on the slaying.

“The Fortson family is battling the loss of yet another young member of their family,” said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has been representing the family since Roger Fortson was killed.

“This has been an incredibly challenging time for them with the loss of Roger,” Crump said in a statement. “Losing the life of yet another young family member — a mere child — has been an absolute devastation.”

READ MORE: Hundreds pack funeral for Roger Fortson, the Black airman killed in his home by a Florida deputy

Andre Fortson was found shot to death in the breezeway of an apartment complex on Tuesday, police said. Two groups of people had been shooting at each other for unknown reasons, DeKalb County police said.

A 20-year-old man was identified as one of the shooters, and arrested on an aggravated assault charge, police said. He was booked into the DeKalb County Jail. Jail records did not list an attorney who could be reached for comment on his behalf.

The killing comes about three months after Roger Fortson, 23, was killed May 3 by Okaloosa County sheriff’s Deputy Eddie Duran at Fortson’s apartment in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The airman had answered the door while holding a handgun pointed toward the floor and was killed within seconds, body camera video shows.

Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden fired Duran, saying the deputy’s life was never in danger and that he should not have fired his weapon.

READ MORE: Sheriff deputy’s killing of Black airman in Florida renews debate on police killings and race

A sheriff’s office internal affairs investigation found that Fortson “did not make any hostile, attacking movements, and therefore, the former deputy’s use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable.”

The Fortson family is from DeKalb County, where Andre Fortson was killed. At a tearful news conference a couple of weeks after the Florida killing, Andre Fortson stood on the stage with his mother and sisters. They wore red shirts with the words “WE ALL WE GOT” on the front and a picture of Roger Fortson in his military uniform on the back.

Roger Fortson was stationed at the Air Force’s Hurlburt Field in the Florida Panhandle. At his funeral outside Atlanta, hundreds of Air Force members in dress blues filed past his coffin, draped with an American flag.

Netizens mocked Kamala Harris after a video of her suddenly speaking in the Southern accent surfaced.

Atlantan Omar Martinez was raised in the United States, the son of an immigrant who moved from Ixtlahuacán del Rio, Jalisco, in pursuit of the American dream. When his father left Mexico, he left a life of farming in favor of masonry. But his farmland, which had been in the family for years, was left in a state of disrepair. “I realized he was a little sad seeing his farms overgrown,” Martinez says. “I started [working] in agave to give my dad’s farm life.”

After a great deal of research and trial and error, plus numerous trips to Mexico the past decade, Martinez plotted a very special piece of land—one both of his grandfathers had farmed. It was approximately four years ago that he became an agavera (agave grower). He met Peter Kiley, Monday Night brewmaster and cofounder of Sneaky Spirits, which makes Sneaky Pete Spirits and Yacht Water, and together, they founded Pedro Furtivo Tequila. It’s an additive-free spirit made from Martinez’s fully matured agave azul Piñas grown in his father’s hometown. Available in Blanco and Reposado varieties, and soon Anejo, it’s meant to reflect the heritage of the tequila.

“We come from two totally different cultures and ways of life and came together under this shared vision,” Kiley explains. “We can give people a grade-A example of additive-free tequila without a crazy price tag because we own so much of the [production] steps.”

Courtesy of Pedro Furtivo

“Being a brewer and distiller, Peter knew a lot that I didn’t,” Martinez adds. “What kind of water, what kind of agave (highland or lowland)—those things make a difference in the tequila. My knowledge of the farms, the dirt it grew on, combined with Peter’s knowledge, puts a different spin on the tequila.”

Kiley worked in wine before launching Monday Night Brewing and Sneaky Pete’s, and felt his spirits lacked connection to the land. “I felt like an imposter, and nothing was working right. It felt so soulless,” he says. With Pedro Furtivo—which means Sneaky Pete in Spanish—he’s able to share Martinez’s story on every bottle.

Sold at bottle shops in Georgia and Tennessee, as well as Monday Night Brewing, Pedro Furtivo is just getting started. “I don’t want to go around manipulating flavors for the tequila yet—I want to make things the classic way before I put a spin on it,” Kiley says. “But we also want to have fun. We are a young brand with a lot of creative ideas and want to balance Old World with New World.”

His wife Rachel Kiley recently left her role as Monday Night Brewing chief operating officer to become CEO and cofounder of Sneaky Spirits, including Pedro Furtivo. (She’ll still serve as a strategic adviser for the brewery.) Now, she’s working on getting the tequila into local restaurants and bars and will host a pop-up at the Monday Night Garage at Lee + White. Starting August 23, they’ll serve cocktails made with Pedro Furtivo on Friday and Saturday (4 p.m. to 10 p.m.) and Sunday (noon to 6 p.m.) from the company truck in the courtyard. Drinks include a paloma, batanga, and margarita.

“We’re really proud of it,” Martinez says.

Advertisement