DeAndre Fortson, a 39-year-old Black man from Detroit, Michigan, was a chef and a father. Known affectionately to his loved ones as "Porky," his life was ended by gun violence in the spring of 2023.
On the evening of April 1, 2023, at approximately 6:21 p.m., a person fired a handgun through the side door of a home in the 20150 block of Hartwell Street. The shot fatally wounded DeAndre Fortson. He was not discovered until six days later.
On April 7, Detroit police responded to a call about a disturbance at the residence and found Fortson deceased just inside the door, with a gunshot wound to his chest.
The investigation took a turn after a separate crime occurred two weeks later. On April 15, a non-fatal shooting took place during an altercation in Detroit's Greektown entertainment district. Police arrested 19-year-old Aaron Leviticus McClinton for that incident. While McClinton was in custody, investigators announced they had connected him to Fortson's death.
On April 21, 2023, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office charged McClinton with first-degree murder and a felony firearm count in the shooting death of DeAndre Fortson. At his arraignment, McClinton stood mute, and a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf. However, in a significant development two months later, the murder charges against him in connection with Fortson's case were dismissed.
Following the dismissal of charges in June 2023, the investigation into DeAndre Fortson's homicide was reopened. His case remains unsolved.
