This story has been updated.
Authorities arrested a 22-year-old Florida man Wednesday night and charged him with murder in the shooting death of rapper XXXTentacion.
Dedrick Devonshay Williams of Pompano Beach was arrested in the south Florida city and charged with first-degree murder, operating a vehicle without a valid license and a probation violation, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. Lawyer information for Williams was not immediately available.
XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, was leaving upscale motorcycle dealership RIVA Motorsports in Deerfield Beach late Monday afternoon when two armed men approached him, and at least one fired a gun, fatally wounding the rapper, detectives said. Both gunmen fled in a dark-colored SUV.
Emergency officials took the rapper to a hospital before announcing he had died. Onfroy was 20.
TMZ published a censored video that showed XXXTentacion slouched in the driver’s seat of a car and surrounded by onlookers as sirens blared nearby.
Raised in South Florida, Onfroy would go on to court both success and extreme controversy as XXXTentacion.
In March 2014, he uploaded the song “Vice City” to SoundCloud, the free music-streaming platform where he would eventually amass more than 2 million followers. There, he released several EPs, and his cult following quickly grew into mainstream celebrity.
His musical persona constantly shifted, as he tackled mumble-rap, horrorcore, R&B and even heavy metal. “The only person who inspires me is Kurt Cobain,” he once said.
In August 2017, Onfroy released his debut album “17,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Seven months later, he released “?,” which topped the chart.
Meanwhile, he faced legal problems and a quickly worsening reputation.
The rapper was arrested in Miami-Dade in October 2016 and later charged with aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, domestic battery by strangulation, false imprisonment and witness-tampering. His ex-girlfriend accused him of physical abuse, including strangulation — both before and after he learned she was pregnant.
While awaiting trial, he pleaded no contest to previous charges of armed home-invasion robbery and battery.
He had long bragged about his violent tendencies in interviews, such as telling an extremely detailed story about beating a “homosexual” cellmate for looking at him. The story included disturbing details, such as Onfroy claiming that he wiped the man’s blood on his own face.
That violence extended to his shows. He routinely got into fistfights with fans at his concerts.
Though his songs charted with regularity, celebrities such as comedian Eric Andre began disavowing the rapper and asking others to follow suit.
Spotify briefly removed the controversial rapper, along with singer R. Kelly, from its curated playlists, citing a “hateful conduct” policy — but it quickly restored them after a music-industry backlash, which reportedly included artists such as Kendrick Lamar.
At the time of his death, Onfroy was awaiting trial.
As news of the shooting broke, several celebrities and musicians shared their shock on social media. “I never told you how much you inspired me when you were here,” Kanye West wrote after Onfroy’s death was confirmed.
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