triple murder investigators Three rappers died earlier this year in suburban Detroit Friday said the killings were the result of gang violence and had nothing to do with the music.
bodies from Armani Kelly of Oscoda, Michigan; Montoya Givens of Detroit; and Dante Wicker of Melwindale, Michigan; Authorities reported the next day that they had been found on February 2 in an abandoned apartment building in the town of Highland Park, 6 miles northwest of Detroit.
“This was an incident related to gang violence,” Michigan State Police said Friday, citing the need to dispel false rumors.
“This killing was not random,” the agency Tweetedadding that it had nothing to do with “the music or the performance”.
Kelly’s mother, Laurie Kemp, has not disputed the gang-related characterization. In February, the Detroit Free Press reported that Kemp alleged that the crime was gang-related retaliation From the time his son was in jail.
Speaking to Detroit’s NBC affiliate WDIV, Kemp said of the triple homicide, “I think it was a setup.”
“Did I know Armani was in a gang?” she said in a segment aired on the station on Friday. “No. Did he join a gang in prison? Yes.”
The Detroit News reports that in 2022, Kelly was released early from prison, where he was arrested for robbery. His fiancée, Taylor Perrin, told the publication, “He really turned my life around.”
Three went missing after a January 21 performance at the Detroit venue was canceled, When the bodies of all three were found on February 2, the missing case turned into a murder investigation.
On 7 February, police stated that the cause of death was “multiple gunshot wounds”.
A spokeswoman for the Wayne County prosecutor’s office said it did not have any public information about any potential persons of interest.
On Friday, the Michigan State Police, the primary agency investigating the triple homicide, said no one was in custody in the slaying and pleaded for witnesses and tips that could bring closure to the victims’ families.
“There are other people who know details and we need them to come forward,” the agency said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com