According to reports, Corleone had rented a house there, and hed been pimping 21-year-old Lee Danae Laursen, from Payson, Utah. Corleone said he shot Watkins, then chased Atkins into the street and shot him while he was on the ground pleading for his life, the warrant alleged. His name always came up," Babcock said. Anthony Fat Tone Watkins was a large figure, literally and figuratively. Show your support to our ongoing efforts to catalogue the best music writing on the internet by subscribing to the Passion of the Weiss Patreon. Unlike Davila and Piersey, Whitmill was the only known person with a financial incentive to have Mac Dre show up on time and fulfill his responsibilities. He fearfully ran the other way, eventually ending up back at The Baymont 45 minutes later, where he told the front desk worker to call the police. Damon Whitmill could not be reached for comment. Later that night, he said that he was following his white van as the driver, Harold Piersey, took Mac Dre back to The Sheraton after leaving IHop. According to agents, the gang was responsible for 13 robberies, netting around 1.5 million that they claimed was used to invest into Dres rap career. Soon, Mathis' Saturn sedan, which Laursen had been driving, turned up burning in Richmond, said Fairfield police Lt. Tony Shipp. However, that didnt stop Fat Tone from facing deadly consequences over the unfounded rumors and on May 23, 2005, seven months after Mac Dres killing, Fat Tone and his friend, Jermaine Aikens, were murdered in Las Vegas in what is widely believed to have been retaliation for Mac Dres death. The witness admitted that he made up statements about having an incriminating conversation with Dow that prosecutors used to bolster their case. A day or two before the Snoop Dogg show, Tone and his goon, 22-year-old Jermain Cowboy Watkins, a fugitive from a federal cocaine charge, arrived in Vegas. His story completely changed in 2008, after he was arrested for drug conspiracy and looking at 30 years in prison. Early on May 23, a security guard found the body of the 24-year-old Watkins in a housing development under construction in southwest Las Vegas. Dre got jumped into The Crest. A dark-colored SUV had been seen speeding away; shortly after, Cowboys Saturn sedan, which Laursen had been driving, turned up burning in Richmond. Wide Open 14. I tell you, at the time, I would have put my hand on the Bible and been like, Nah, Dre had nothing to do with that. He was just somebody who was down with the neighborhood, and that neighborhood was getting profiled, and hes standing up for it. There was fourteen of us, remembers Romper Room member and Dre collaborator Coolio Daundadogg. Mac Dre responded thats not my job, and the clubs security reportedly shut it down. In 2004, Mac Dre was murdered in Kansas City. A family member of the victim had tried calling KCPD with information, but Washington says that he was shrugged off. He fathered a daughter named Drane. This is where Mac Dres death becomes the catalyst for the shooting deaths of three people, with two others being given life in prison, effectively losing their lives as well. This is a carousel. Sleep Dank looked up to Mac Dre. Police found drugs and multiple firearms, including an AR-15 assault rifle the same type of weapon used in Mac Dres shooting. In a police report that Babcock wrote in November 2004, Whitmill allegedly told the detective that Mac Dre agreed to come to Kansas City and perform two live shows for a total of $12,500, with the first $6,000 to be paid immediately as a deposit. Hicks was vocal about the actions he saw being taken by the police and incorporated their aggressive surveillance of residents into his music. They claim Dre was the ringleader and used his lyrics in court to help support their case. Hes been accused of many other shootings and robberies, though none of them have ever been proven. If Dre was alive Id be in a big ass house right now.. Despite the title of the song, it was a hit on local radio. While the tips regarding Fat Tones culpability continued to flood in, Detective Babcock was convinced that he had nothing to do with it and started spending his time on more credible theories. In 2011, Mac Dre received an influx of new fans after Drake gave him a shout out in his hit single, Motto featuring Lil Wayne. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Bussey said that his client did not wish to provide the sample, saying that Whitmill was afraid that his DNA would be put in a database for comparisons to other crimes. When asked if it was frustrating being unable to shut a case after all the work hed done over more than a decade, Detective Babcock said this: I mean, you have the case files, he says. He used Mac Dres name to get a little more street cred for his career. The 34-year-old Vallejo resident, who made more than 20 underground albums, was killed Nov. 1, 2004, during a trip to Kansas City, where he was performing. Whitmill told Detective Babcock that hed hoped the Halloween party would help make up the monetary loss from the show at The Armory. For two days, more than 35 officers and FBI agents followed the group as they picked up girls, shopped for shoes, and even bought deodorant from Walmart. To many, this was a grave injustice. Yet another informant, Nicolas Bell, also incarcerated at CCA Leavenworth, told detectives a similar story on March 13, 2006. They left immediately to go find his body. But why make up that lie at all? Once Dre finished the Halloween-night walk-through, he and Thizz artist Major Dubee Norton (there may have been others) got into a white van and left the club; Dubee drove and Dre rode shotgun. But on March 13, 2006, Antwine finally admitted to detectives that he had been in possession of the black Infiniti used in Mac Dres murder. She prefers to ignore the hype and enjoy the sight of young people wearing "Mac Dre" T-shirts, some who discovered his music in the past year. He said they feared that the interview would only cause more problems for the people involved. So listening to that, it kind of opened up my eyes that maybe I do need to do this. He was also the founder of both Thizz Entertainment and Romp. [10] Vallejo police began focusing on the Crest Neighborhood as a source of the crime. Motherfuckers would try to beat him up because they were jealous of him. Cowboy had been shot about 13 times by the same gun and laid a few feet from the car. "If Andre were here, he'd be shaking his head.". The tipster had tried to reach Kansas City police, but couldnt get through. He went through a lot.if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'passionweiss_com-large-mobile-banner-2','ezslot_3',156,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-passionweiss_com-large-mobile-banner-2-0'); Mac Dres name pays homage to another one of Vallejos musical legends, Michael The Mac Robinson, who was only able to release two EPs under Strictly Business Records, before being shot to death in 1991. Hill would later ditch the Infiniti, telling Taylor that he sold it to a man named Papoose.. According to Whitmills interview with Babcock, Mac Dre missed his radio appearance and showed up late to the record store signing at Much Music and More on October 29. Taylor was interviewed by Detective Babcock nearly a year later at the Wyandotte County Jail, where he was being held on theft and robbery charges and outstanding warrants. So everybodys names are intertwining.. According to the Daily Mail, she has been living out of her car and working as a delivery driver for DoorDash and Uber Eats. He incorporated his sense of humor into his music, in part by creating characters, such as Ronald Dregan and Thizzelle Washington. He wore a large afro, and big, oversized stunna shades, and he created the Thizz Dance, a funky dance that holds no specific rules. Hicks' funeral took place on November 9, 2004, at the Mt. He knew what happened to Mac Dre and felt partly responsible, but couldnt bring himself to testify in court. He was really on ecstasy pills and thizzing, says Coolio. Mac Dres final album, released only 13 days before his murder, was meant to be the spiritual successor of The Macs first EP from 1988, The Game is Thick. He said that the promoter, Damon Whitmill, who Patterson referred to as Damon or Big D, became mad at Mac Dre after he refused to perform, instead showing up late only to do a 30 minute walk through before leaving. It was an era marked by Mac Dres prolific post-prison recordings, where he created a dense body of work in such a short period of time that I once referred to him as the West Coast Max B. Mathis had rented a house less than five blocks from the murder scene. According to Corleones arrest warrant, he had admitted to a friend that he shot Tone and Cowboy to avenge Mac Dres killing. Calvary Baptist Church. Theres little incentive to leave a tip when the police cant be trusted to look into it, Washington said. Dozens of tips recorded by KCPD feature some variation of Fat Tone and Mac Dre getting into an altercation. He symbolized hope for a lot of people who came from the same poverty stricken areas as he did. If Andre was alive he would definitely be capitalizing and making as much money as he could.. Sleep Dank, a Vallejo rapper and friend of Mac Dres, was born and raised in the Country Club Crest. Investigators soon discovered he was wanted in Las Vegas, where he later pleaded not guilty. Lots of circumstantial evidence, but neither Minister nor Corleone were anywhere to be found. Another informant from Leavenworth shared a similar story with Detective Babcock. 60. r/CaliBanging. Know Your City! Davila seems to feel guilty for the role he played in his friends death and has tried to find ways to tell detectives since getting arrested in 2006. [1] He was an instrumental figure in the emergence of hyphy, a cultural movement in the Bay Area hip hop scene that emerged in the early 2000s. In the early 2000s, hed begun gaining popularity for both his music and his rap sheet in equal measure. San Francisco police records show his true name is Antoine Cantrell. I finally got to the point where I could look at it from that point of view, she says. Dr. Dre's eldest daughter claims she's homeless and living out of a car.The hip-hop mogul, whose net worth was estimated at $800 million in 2019, reportedly cut her off last year. Instead, Mac Dre showed up late again, only stayed for 30 minutes and then left without performing. Losing consciousness for a brief moment, Piersey claimed to have lost his cell phone in the crash and tried climbing out of the embankment, where he noticed another car aggressively charging towards him. A culture of distrust exists between the Black community in Kansas City and the majority white police force that has been tasked to protect them. He doesnt recall hearing from Whitmill again. And his music was good. He called Whitmill back and told him and then Mac Dre ended up dead. In 1999, in an effort to give himself some distance from the Romper Room Gangs controversy, Dre moved to Sacramento, California, and started Thizz Entertainment in partnership with Walter Zelnick, vice president of City Hall Records. There were three spent 7.62X39 Wolf shell casings found in the backseat the same kind located at the crime scene. On May 23, in the early morning hours, Minister, Fat Tone and Cowboy left the MGM, where Tone and Cowboy had been staying. He didnt recognize the driver, but assumed it was Papoose, because thats who Hill said hed sold the car too. Bay Area rapper Mac Dre began his career at 18 and quickly became an influential force in early west coast hip-hop. He believes the victims were driven to the neighborhood where they were killed roughly 80 minutes later. Some people wanted to sell drugs, and do all that, Sleep Dank says. She also said hed paid to get the windows tinted and assumed some girl had rented it for him. Rappers. This was perhaps the first time Detective Babcock realized Andre Hicks was more than your average Kansas City murder victim. I put that on everything. He was pretty sure Hill had stolen the car, but he didnt want to pry. In 1992 he was convicted of conspiracy to commit bank robbery when his lyrics were used against him in court. At the same time, police were looking for the culprits in a string of robberies that targeted Vallejo pizza shops. Whatever happened, happened, you know what Im saying?, Sleep Dank says. Mr. Stinky said this incident helped lend credence to the numerous rumors that Fat Tone had gotten into a confrontation with Mac Dre that weekend, even though he says it never happened. For a long time I was not proud of it, but I am now and I think that conversation started with Drake, and with other up-and-coming entertainers like the Jabbawockeez. Jailhouse snitches are notoriously unreliable. The officer checked on George, then stepped away to call for help; when he turned back, he saw Antwine in midair, coming down with both feet on Georges head. The 35-year-old rap promoter was indicted Nov. 2 in Las Vegas on murder charges stemming from the deaths of Watkins and Akins. He told Detective Babcock in 2004 that he spoke with Mac Dre while in a limousine in front of the club. Mac Dre was dead when they got there from a bullet wound in the back of his neck. In January 2021, Davila told me that he wouldnt directly comment on his statement to Detective Babcock. Vallejo rapper Andre Mac Dre Hicks slaying last year in Kansas City has been linked to the killings of three other people, in Las Vegas and the Bay Area, and two San Francisco men have been indicted in two of the killings. Its single, Too Hard 4 the Fuckin Radio, recorded while Mac Dre was still a student at Vallejos Hogan High School, lets the world know of his unwillingness to compromise for mainstream appeal, a promise he kept throughout his career. He was the first person to show my neighborhood that we dont have to sell crack anymore. A dark-colored SUV was seen speeding away. When he died, a certain momentum was killed with him and he left a void thats still yet to be filled. [14] He stayed for only 30 minutes, according to Whitmill, before abruptly leaving without performing. Davila called his driver and found their location. Subscribe to the newsletter to get the latest updates! This racial disparity is evident when watching A&Es The First 48, a reality television show that follows various homicide detectives in the first two days after a murder. One of those informants was Gary Patterson, who told Detective Babcock that he became friends with Davila while they were housed together in 2007. 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