Robert Fuller’s Brother Killed in a Police Shootout
As the family of Robert Fuller mourn the loss of a son still in his prime, his brother loses his life in a story just as controversial.
Terron Jammal Boone, who has the same mother as Robert Fuller, was involved in a shootout with the Rosamond Police in California yesterday. He died on the scene.
The family asks for privacy once more as they mourn the loss of another son fresh off the heels of the controversial — some would say questionable death of Robert Fuller, 24, a Black man who was found hanging from a tree right outside of City Hall in Palmdale, CA in what authorities initially ruled a suicide.
After public outcry and justified pressure from the family, the case is being further investigated and cause of death has not been officially declared.
Sources are claiming that a woman called 911 and said that she was being held against her will by Boone on Tuesday where he allegedly demanded information about Fuller’s death. The woman escaped and reported the incident to the sheriff’s department.
Boone was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, domestic violence and criminal threats, according to LA Superior Court records.
News of Fuller’s death made national headlines, largely because of the optics. Historically for African Americans, death by hanging — even suicide, is too closely associated with lynchings (then, and now). While there are laws in place that prohibit the act, they still happen.
“To rush to the conclusion that this was a suicide and not a homicide is extremely disturbing. Especially given the manner by which Mr. Fuller was found — hanging from a tree,” said Fuller family attorney Jamon Hicks during a press conference. “For African-Americans in America, hanging from a tree is a lynching. Why was this cavalierly dismissed as a suicide and not investigated as a murder?”