The 23-year-old brother of Pittsburgh Steelers’ defensive end Stephon Tuitt was killed in a hit-and-run Wednesday in the Atlanta suburb of Johns Creek, according to a report from the New York Post.
Tuitt’s brother, Richard Bartlett III, was struck on a busy stretch of McGinnis Ferry Road in Johns Creek around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night.
According to Captain Todd Hood of the Johns Creek Police Department, Bartlett III was struck while standing in the roadway, helping his girlfriend secure a mattress to the vehicle.
“The victim was following a girlfriend in a vehicle,” Hood said to CBS46 in Georgia. “She had a mattress strapped to the top of her car. From what we understand they may have stopped to secure it. She had pulled over to the right-hand side of the roadway. The victim had pulled into the left-hand turn lane right there at the boat entrance to the Chattahoochee River.”
The vehicle is believed to be a dark-colored four-door sedan, possibly a BMW, according to reports.
“We’re doing everything we can to help the family in this situation. It’s very tragic for them, very tragic for the Mom and the girlfriend who witnessed this incident,” Hood said.
Tamara Tuitt-Bartlett, the mother of Tuitt and Bartlett III, is a deputy with the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia.
