Ron Pettaway Was Reared in an Impressive African-American Family

This morning, I spoke with Army Sergeant First Class Roy Pettaway, father of Roy (21), Cruz (18), and the late Ron Pettaway, and I also spoke with Sergeant Pettaway's wife, Shalonda Pettaway. It grieves me deeply that such a beautiful and upstanding Black American family has been the victim of such an intentional tragedy as the police execution of Ron on April 15, when police also shot Ron's brother Roy in the back.

The late Ron Pettaway came from an impressive family. Sergeant Roy Pettaway's youngest son, Cruz, was his brothers' designated driver on the night when Ron was killed by police at the Frozen Palace bar. Cruz is eighteen years old, a high school senior and "has always been an "A" student, 9th, 10, 11th, 12th grade. Cruz will graduate from Banneker High School in College Park, Georgia on May 25th with a 4.0 average. Cruz is a member of the National Honor Society, and the Future Business Leaders of America," said Shalonda Pettaway, Cruz' step-mother.

Cruz "is very special, very likable," says his father. "All of his teachers love him. He's going to do great things in the world. He wants to go to Georgia Tech University. He has been accepted at DeVry University. He has applied for several engineering scholarships and has received a $1,500 scholarship from. He gets a Hope Scholarship based on his GPA. He plans to be a computer engineer," said Mrs. Pettaway.

If Cruz has accomplished much in his first 18 years, it cannot be a mere coincidence that his father, Sergeant First Class Roy Pettaway, is a man with with 29 years of service to his country in the US Army , while his grandfather, the Rev. Roy Pettaway, is a minister in a Florida Church. Ron Pettaway, who was killed by police, was a member of the Powder Sprints Business Association and engaged to be married to his business partner, Lisa Sayer.

When I hear the details of a loving and highly functional Black family losing a member to an inexplicable act of the police, this is what grieves and angers me most: If Blacks like the Sergeant Roy Pettaway family are not safe from police violence, then who is safe?