Detectives think XXXTentacion was shot dead in random robbery

Rapper XXXTentacion ‘died instantly’ after being shot in the neck in what detectives think was a random robbery – shortly after he had been warned to beef up his security.

An eyewitness told TMZ they saw two armed men approach XXXTentacion’s car, parked outside a motorcycle dealership in Deerfield Beach, Florida, Monday opened fire, hitting his neck. They say he died instantly, going limp, with no pulse or signs of life.

Gruesome video from the scene showed the 20-year-old hip hop star, whose real name was Jahseh Onfroy, showed him slumped over in the seat of his car.

His lawyer David Bogenschutz said he’d previously urged XXXTentacion to improve his security during his rapid rise to fame.

‘We talked about him needing security,’ he told the Sun-Sentinel on Tuesday. ‘That he was past the point of being a kid making melodies on the street.’

Detectives have revealed they believe that XXXTentacion (pictured) may have been shot dead in a robbery gone wrong 

Despite claims from friends of XXXTentacion, who believe the rapper could have been deliberately targeted by one his many ‘enemies’, Bogenschutz said that investigators believe the shooting was a random robbery. 

Bogenschutz said his client had visited a bank shortly before the shooting and possibly withdrew cash for the purchase. Police also found that a Louis Vuitton bag was taken from his black BMW sports car.

Police dispatch recordings classed him as a level 1 trauma patient and in a  ‘comatose’ state.

‘The only thing I know for a fact is that they were investigating it as a random robbery,’ Bogenschutz said, although he added that detectives ‘are not discounting any theory.’

The Broward Sheriff’s Office said deputies are hunting for two suspects seen fleeing the scene in a dark SUV, but confirmed no arrests have yet been made. 

The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy Tuesday, but results are being withheld as part of the investigation.

Close friend and producer Zxflo said XXXTentacion had taken some steps to tighten  security in recent months, including never leaving home alone.

He told DailyMail.com that he was skeptical of the police’s findings. He thinks that the rapper was deliberately targeted.

XXXTentacion, whose real name was Jahseh Onfroy, was gunned down on Monday afternoon outside a motorcycle dealership in Deerfield Beach, Florida (pictured) 

XXXTentacion, whose real name was Jahseh Onfroy, was gunned down on Monday afternoon outside a motorcycle dealership in Deerfield Beach, Florida (pictured) 

Graphic video taken right after the shooting circulated on social media Monday

The video included images of the shot rapper slumped behind the wheel of his car and someone feeling for a pulse

Graphic: Video taken right after the shooting circulated on social media Monday, including images of the shot rapper slumped behind the wheel of his car and someone feeling for a pulse

‘Honestly, I hate to say it but I don’t believe it was a robbery,’ Zxflo, 27, said. ‘I don’t believe it was a robbery at all.

‘Through the years, he’s gained some enemies and it’s hard to speak right now but he didn’t travel alone, he was a very smart individual. He did not travel alone, he never traveled alone – he knew that he has enemies, obviously. He would not go places alone.’

He added: ‘I know there were people who were very jealous and envious of him. He came from an area where not a lot of people make it out so…’

XXXTentacion had previously had public feuds with a number of other artists including Drake and south Florida rapper Ski Mask the Slump God.

Although he was not known to be affiliated with any gangs, XXX was said to have been in persistent trouble with the law over his regular substance abuse and aggressive behavior.

In particular over the treatment of his ex-girlfriend Geneva Ayala who, according to court documents, he regularly stomped on, strangled, kicked and punched. He also repeatedly threatened to kill himself if Ayala left him, often coming close to carrying out the suicide in front of her.

A vigil on Tuesday came in response to the rising star's murder in Florida. LAPD officers in riot gear responded when the gathering got out of control. Pictured: A member of the crowd stands on a news van

A vigil on Tuesday came in response to the rising star’s murder in Florida. LAPD officers in riot gear responded when the gathering got out of control. Pictured: A member of the crowd stands on a news van

Fans carried posters and candles as they chanted the 20-year-old's name and climbed atop cars and buildings in Melrose Avenue

Fans carried posters and candles as they chanted the 20-year-old’s name and climbed atop cars and buildings in Melrose Avenue

Fans also decorated 100 yards of sidewalk with chalk art including messages of sympathy and loss such as 'Feel for you XXX' and '4evr Young'

Fans also decorated 100 yards of sidewalk with chalk art including messages of sympathy and loss such as ‘Feel for you XXX’ and ‘4evr Young’

After she became pregnant he continued to brutally beat her and was eventually arrested over the abuse and placed initially under house arrest and then in prison.

In the months leading up to his death, he was charged with witness tampering after trying to pressure his ex-girlfriend to drop the charges.

XXXTentacion – pronounced X-X-X Tentacion – was born in Plantation, Florida, and raised in Lauderhill, a small city approximately 31 miles north of Miami Beach.

His father Dwayne, 44, spent much of his childhood in and out of jail while financial circumstances meant his mother Cleopatra Bernard, 38, was largely unable to care for him.

Following the news of her son’s death, Bernard told DailyMail.com: ‘My son’s dead. I need some time. I don’t know what’s going on.’

He was raised primarily by his grandmother Collette Jones and struggled at school, including being expelled from Margate Middle School following a series of altercations with another student.

The 20-year-old had always loved music however, taking part in both school and church choirs and attempting to learn the piano and the guitar while studying at Sheridan House Family Ministries.

But he also had a series of run-ins with the law and served time in juvenile detention on gun possession charges after dropping out of Piper High School in Sunrise, Florida, in tenth Grade.

Zxflo told DailyMail.com that XXXTentacion had found it tough after his release, couch-surfing for months on end – including a six-month stint at his own home in Plantation in 2015.

Although he was not known to be affiliated with any gangs, XXX was said to have been in persistent trouble with the law over his substance abuse and aggressive behavior. He's pictured above in a December mugshot

Geneva Ayala (pictured), the woman XXXTentacion allegedly abused while she was pregnant with their child, revealed she was kicked out of the rapper's vigil on Tuesday night 

Although he was not known to be affiliated with any gangs, XXX was said to have been in persistent trouble with the law. He’s pictured above in a December mugshot (left) after he was accused of abusing Geneva Ayala (right) while she was pregnant with their child

‘A few years ago, he was pretty violent, I’m not going to lie,’ he said. ‘He was raised by his grandmother, never had a really a home to go to.

‘He stayed with me for about six months, he stayed with [rapper] Denzel Curry – they really doing whatever they could to make it. He made it and now it’s just devastating.

‘It’s hard for me to talk about this right now to be honest. I just want people to know he is not what the media portray him to be. He was an amazing, loving person.’

Despite his legal troubles – which included an arrest for robbery and assault with a deadly weapon in July 2016 and a pending trial on charges of domestic violence and witness tampering – XXXTentacion’s music career was taking off, propelled by the success of 2017 hit Look At Me which charted at number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100.

An eight-track mixtape Revenge followed and on August 25 2017, he released his first major album, 17 which debuted at number 2.

More recently, he released a song called Hope dedicated to the victims of the Parkland school shooting on Valentine’s Day via his SoundCloud account.

His most recent single, Sad!, released on March 2, debuted at number 17 – making it his biggest hit to date.

The rapper had also been attempting to change his image in recent months, focusing on community work and doing, Zxflo said, a 360 and turning his life around.

Just before his death, XXXTentacion had moved into an opulent $1.4million four-bedroom home in upscale Parkland, which he shared with his mother 

Just before his death, XXXTentacion had moved into an opulent $1.4million four-bedroom home in upscale Parkland, which he shared with his mother 

Zxflo said: ‘He was so loving and caring to his friends and the people who were around him supported him to the fullest. A lot of people didn’t like him and they were jealous of what he was doing and how talented he was.

Just before his death, XXXTentacion had moved into an opulent $1.4million four-bedroom home in upscale Parkland, which he shared with his mother.

Last night, hundreds of fans of blocked off a street in LA for a vigil for the rapper.

Fans carried posters and candles as they chanted the 20-year-old’s name and climbed atop cars and buildings in Melrose Avenue. Some members of the raucous crowd even jumped from roofs into the masses below before crowd surfing.

LAPD officers in riot gear responded when the gathering got out of control.

They reportedly fired rubber and pepper bullets as well as tear gas into the crowd after rocks were thrown. By just after 10pm, cops reported the situation under control.



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk