Deoineta Hightower is confident his brother got the most out of life.

If D’Anthony Reaves wasn’t with one of his 12 children and eight stepchildren, he was making a new hip-hop track with Hightower or hanging out with friends. His philosophy was to sleep as little as possible so he could spend more time with the people he loved.

“It was like God sent him here to have fun and keep people smiling and keep people laughing,” Hightower, 45, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution during an interview Wednesday. “He was definitely a free spirit.”

That’s exactly what Reaves was doing in the early hours of July 19, spending time with a friend in downtown Atlanta. By 5:15 a.m., Hightower got a call: His brother had been fatally shot.

Reaves grew up in Capitol Homes, a former public housing project

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