Detectives investigate if Atlanta man's death was out of retaliation

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Police Department is looking into whether the death of a Dick's Sporting Goods warehouse employee is tied to several firings at the center over theft.
 
Antavious Kurtz was killed when he was shot inside his truck in the early morning hours of Feb. 11 outside his home, on Bunker Hill Drive.
 
He has just gotten home from his job at the Dick's Sporting Goods warehouse in East Point, where he worked as a supervisor.
 
"I can't see him, I can't touch him and I can't talk to him, and every day I visit that hole in the ground; a part of me is left there," said mother Ernestine Kurtz.
 
Investigators said Kurtz was one of several people who provided information to police about a theft ring that cost several people their jobs at the warehouse.
 
"He wasn't robbed. He had his valuables on him," said Detective Cedric Smith, with Atlanta police. "This guy was squeaky clean."
 
Smith says he hasn't been able to make a link yet, but a possible connection is his leading theory behind the shooting.
 
"Dick's is cooperating fully. I've been in contact with their investigators there, so we're working back and forth, hand in hand," Smith said.
 
In the meantime, Ernestine Kurtz says her faith in God is helping her get through this painful time.
 
"Part of me died. I just screamed and hollered and just called on God to take it," Kurtz said. "That's a pain I hope nobody ever, ever has to experience. I mean it's like someone sent a hot blade through your chest."

WSBTV