The family of a decorated US Air Force solider shot dead by cops three months ago suffered another horrific tragedy when another member was killed this week.
Chantemekki ‘Meka’ Fortson’s 16-year-old son, Andre Fortson was shot dead Tuesday night just before 10pm in an apartment complex in DeKalb County, Georgia, less than 90 days after her oldest son US Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was mistakenly shot dead by police.
DeKalb County Police said two groups were shooting at each other, according to a preliminary report. The motive is unknown and is still under investigation, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.
The shooter, Quintavious Zellner, 20, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault. He is being held in the DeKalb County Jail. The authorities said more arrests are expected.
The child’s heartbroken mother, shared that she and her 10-year-old daughter Harmoni leaned on Andre for support after her US Airman son’s death, and called her younger child her ‘comfort.’
Through tears she uttered, ‘What kind of Mama am I that I have to lose two children within a 90-day period?’ The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported.
Through tears, she said, ‘What kind of Mama am I that I have to lose two children within a 90-day period?. Her son Andre Forston, 16, (pictured right) was fatally shot on Tuesday night
Senior Airman Andre Fortson, 23, was fatally shot by police in May
The grief-stricken mother, shared that she and her 10-year-old daughter Harmoni leaned on Andre(pictured left) for support after her older son’s death
Meka told the news outlet after Roger died, Andre had stayed in her bed and held her until she fell asleep.
‘He was trying to be strong for me. He was trying to make sure I was OK,’ she said.
The teen was entering his senior year of high school, and was planning to enlist in the Air Force after graduation, like his late brother, his mother explained.
The Fortson family had recently moved to Stonecrest, an area in DeKalb, Georgia, roughly 20-miles away from, Summit Hill Apartments at 1500 block of Bouldercrest Road, where the family previously lived.
Recalling the gut-wrenching events, Meka said that her son’s friend called her hysterically telling her, ‘You need to get here. Your baby got shot.’
When she arrived, her 16-year-old son was lying on a stairwell in the breezeway of the apartment building. EMS and police were on the scene, but she was told her child was gone.
The DeKalb County Police Department said Andre Fortson, was found with an apparent gunshot wound. Medics had pronounced him deceased at the scene, as per Fox 5 News.
Meka and her daughter are now the only surviving members of their tight-knit family – tore apart by rampant gun violence in the city.
She said, in part, ‘This is not normal. He was 16. There has to be change.’
Chantemekki Fortson the mother of slain airman Roger Fortson, right, along with family watch Fortson’s casket as they leave for a cemetery during his funeral at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, on May 17, 2024 in Stonecrest, Ga
Last month, nonprofit Every Town cited Georgia for having the 9th highest rate of gun violence in the country – with gun-related murders in Georgia at a startling 47 percent, WSAV News reported.
In the last decade, gun deaths in Georgia have increased to 25 percent — 8 percent higher than the national average.
On May 3, Airman Roger Fortson was on Facetime at his apartment in Fort Walton Beach, Florida when he was shot six times by Deputy Eddie Duran of the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.
Police were called to the apartment complex after a neighbor reported hearing someone being slapped. When officers arrived she told the officers which apartment the disturbance was happening in.
The woman responded ‘1401.’ The law enforcement officer confirmed with the woman that he was going to the fourth floor before riding the elevator up to Fortson’s off-base residence at an apartment complex on 319 Racetrack Road in Okaloosa County.
Upon arriving at the the door of the apartment, the officer knocked once – and then again, saying ‘Sheriff’s office. Open the door’ twice. As the door opened, the sheriff ordered ‘step back’ and ‘do not move.’
The officer then fired six rapid shots that sent the young soldier stumbling to the ground.
The officers bodycam footage that shows the fatal officer-involved-shooting of the young soldier
The mother posed with her child, who was tragically ripped away from her
Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump is pictured alongside a tearful Chantemekki while holding a photo of her beloved son
A witness, who was on FaceTime with Fortson during the time of the shooting, claimed Fortson heard a knock at the door and asked who was there.
According to the witness, when he did not receive a response but heard another ‘very aggressive knock,’ Fortson peered through the peephole – but did not see anyone and grew concerned.
Out of concern, Fortson retrieved a gun – which he owned legally, according to the witness.
When he returned to his living room with the gun, authorities allegedly pushed through his door and shot him six times.
The traumatized witness, who remained on the FaceTime call for the duration of the horrifying shooting, recalled that Fortson said ‘I can’t breathe,’ after the shots were fired. Fortson later died at the hospital.
The deputy involved in the incident has since been placed on administrative leave while the investigation into the shooting continues.
The young soldier was based at the Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida. He entered active duty on Nov. 19, 2019
He was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron as a special missions aviator, where one of his roles as a member of the squadron’s AC-130J Ghostrider aircrew was to load the gunship’s 30mm and 105mm cannons during mission.
After the horrific tragedy, the Air Force’s 1st Special Operations Wing said its priorities are ‘providing casualty affairs service to the family, supporting the squadron during this tragic time, and ensuring resources are available for all who are impacted.’
Meka said that it had always been a dream of her son to service his country and that he had wanted to become a pilot.
‘It’s a disbelief. Every day, I try to go to sleep early to wake up like it’s a dream,’ she told Military.com.
‘He just came back from deployment from fighting for us. With everything we got going on in our country, he’s fighting for us and he came back to be murdered, slain like that so violently.’
‘He was my gift, and they took my gift away,’ Roger’s mother said. ‘And they didn’t give it to me. God gave me that gift… and they took my gift away.’
