Damon Whitmill could not be reached for comment. He tells VladTV that everyone involved has since passed on. At one point, DJ Fresh said he mentioned to Mac Dre that if he told people to get off the stage they might listen to him since they were his fans. As you know, we were really depressed, really hurt and really traumatized by his death and everything. 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. Dre made numerous references to The Romper Room, and in one song he rapped about a harrowing credit union robbery. When he arrived and unlocked the door, he discovered a group of men were standing in the center of the room, rifling through a suitcase. Less than a month later, on March 26, Mac Dre was arrested for conspiracy to rob a bank. It was being driven by a friend of his named Rick Hill. Laursen's father has told police that his daughter was forced into prostitution by Mathis, who "would escort her into various Las Vegas hotels hiding an AK-47 under his clothing," according to Mathis' arrest warrant. 190 East Coast Blocc Crip, 190 is the largest hood in Carson, always have been hated by a lot of hoods & very well known. In March 2006, Bell told detectives that Antwine and Smith had been bragging about the murder, saying that Smith had told him that hed been paid $10,000 to perform the hit. The 22-year-old friend of Watkins was shot 13 times. They told me how they emulate Mac Dre with a Mac Dre skit to start their show., Nas Celebrates Career Longevity In Stylish '30' Video, Joey Bada$$ Gets Cozy With Rumored Girlfriend Serayah In 'Show Me' Video, Wiz Khalifa & Snoop Dogg Drop New Song Following Boosie Badazz Smoking Challenge, Photograph courtesy of Mac Dre's Facebook page, For a while up, for Id say up to about eight years after he passed, his daughter and I kind of like went into seclusion, ,Wanda Mac says. It was clear they were firing from inside the vehicle by the way the metal from the car door curled outward. Associated With. Residents said they heard gunshots and saw a white Mercedes speed away at Ninth and Howard streets. "The tragedy of the whole thing is that, assuming (the woman killed in Fairfield) was killed as retribution for being a witness, that's three people dead over a financial matter over an amount of money that wouldn't pay for a weekend in Vegas," said Babcock, who would not elaborate on the alleged dispute except to say that Watkins was not a suspect in Hicks' death. She had information that could be very damaging, says Hendrix. Young, 38, said in an interview with the Daily Mail published on August 4 that she's living out of an SUV rental in Tarzana, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. He collaborated with E-40 on the song "Dredio." Mac Dre Popularity . A San Francisco rapper imprisoned for killing two men in retaliation for the slaying of hip-hop legend Mac Dre is seeking his release based on new evidence uncovered by the office of District Attorney Chesa Boudin.. Andre Dowknown as Mac Ministerwas convicted at trial in 2008 on two counts of first-degree murder in the shootings of Kansas City rapper Anthony "Fat Tone . This overrepresentation of Black victims and suspects makes the white officers look like heroes. A separate informant told detectives on March 3, 2006 that he had heard about Antwine bragging about being paid to kill Mac Dre while incarcerated at CCA Leavenworth. Servin' Game 10. It took several years for Wanda Mac to deal with her son's passing and his status as a rising rapper who became more famous upon his death. His Las Vegas attorney, Keith Brower, was not available for comment. Charlotte, her sisters Elizabeth, Emily, and Maria were then enrolled by their father whos was a clegyman at the Clergy Daughter's School at Cowan Bridge, near Kirkby Lonsdale in nerby Lancashire. As you know, we were really depressed, really hurt and really traumatized by his death and everything. Some of these cases can be solved.. He served nine months in jail before the charges were dismissed, with prosecutors complaining that the witnesses refused to cooperate. He was born in Oakland, California, on July 5, 1970. Hes a large, personable man with graying hair and has been with the department since 1995. Some, when approached, even pretended they didn't know Hicks. In early October, he started a production company named Honeybear Productions, and enlisted the help of Kansas City rapper 40 Kal, who introduced the Bay Area artists to Whitmill. He said, Im watching myself. Several months later, Tone released a song denying anything to do with Dres murder, but according to Babcock, The rumor was that he had admitted it. In the end, Babcock, who claims Dre was shot over a financial dispute, cleared Fat Tone for the murder. 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. Its unclear if that ever happened. When he was three, he moved 30 minutes north to Vallejo, a city of just over 120,000, famous for having the first United States Navy base on the Pacific Coast. They counted a total of 3 exit holes on the passenger side as well, with most of the windows getting broken in the process. Mathis' Saturn sedan, which Laursen had been driving, was later found burning in Richmond. Dre was just straight music. According to reports, Corleone had rented a house there, and hed been pimping 21-year-old Lee Danae Laursen, from Payson, Utah. The Disney+ spin-off first premiered back in 2019 . The KCPD then, for some reason, locked both men in the same holding cell. About the Author: Mike Enemigo is Americas #1 incarcerated author, with over 25 books published and many more on the way. The limo was gone, but the white van driven by Harold Piersey was there, following behind. Its beyond frustrating.. For Whitmill, it was a last ditch effort to avoid losing a couple thousand dollars over a failed weekend (at least if you go by his first statement to the detectives). He found a computer and recording materials, as well as dozens of Mac Dre CDs originally meant for a merch table. Hicks is considered one of the movement's key pioneers that fueled its popularity into mainstream, releasing songs . So everybodys names are intertwining.. 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. Las Vegas investigators tracked her down in July, and during an interview in San Francisco, Hendrix said he and another detective begged her to cooperate, even offering assistance to help her regain her life. He was once arrested in the killing of a pregnant woman, although the charges were dropped. Thats what I would have done. According to the police reports, Whitmill, who sometimes went by Big D, or Honeybear, spoke to Detective Babcock on numerous occasions, including the day after the murder. Join. bitea dose of arts, culture and more. He took the tip to KCPD and the case was solved not long after. He knew he was onto something so he stopped doing anything dirty. After being featured on an episode of Americas Most Wanted, Dow was arrested in San Francisco in March 2006. If I thought Tone was responsible for the murder of my folks, I would have cleared him publicly in order to make him comfortable enough to come to Vegas in the first place so I could avenge my folks death. Police found drugs and multiple firearms, including an AR-15 assault rifle the same type of weapon used in Mac Dres shooting. In Portland, Seattle, Las Vegas, and all throughout California, Mac Dre had garnered a similar following, earning cult-like status in local hip-hop communities across the West Coast and beyond. In 1992 he was convicted of conspiracy to commit bank robbery when his lyrics were used against him in court. He searched the rappers pockets and found an electronic hotel key for The Sheraton, and a membership card for a 24 Hour Fitness under the name Andre Hicks. After the show, Dre, Keak Da Sneak, The Jacka, Messy Marv, Yukmouth, and other artists attended an after-party. "For a while up, for I'd say up to about. 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. Its a story that lives at the intersection of an extremely strange time in hip-hop history. Thats a tip I took from him.if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[580,400],'passionweiss_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_0',157,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-passionweiss_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0'); Even if its a controversial statement outside of the Bay Area, Mac Dre belongs on top five greatest MC lists. This turned out to be a good thing for Dre, as his audience began growing, and mainstream radio began giving him more airtime. 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. No matter how long youve been a fan, there appears to be an endless supply of deep cuts and mixtape remixes to keep Bay Area rap historians satiated for decades to come. 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. He and Corleone both pled not guilty and maintain their innocence to this day, but they were each convicted and sentenced to four life sentences for the murders of Fat Tone and Cowboy. When they arrived, they found Laursen dead of a gunshot wound to the head. When he finally got a chance, he was able to do his own thing that he really wanted to. Only, Dre quit rapping about robbing, and instead began rapping about partying; he wanted to make music you could dance to. Dre, born Andre Louis Hicks, would drop the word in his breezy, synth-filled songs, helping foment the hyphy movement of the early 2000s, and even renamed his Vallejo-based record label Thizz . But instead of introducing the men to the rap superstar, he and an accomplice allegedly took them to a deserted cul-de-sac and riddled them with bullets from an AK-47. He next called 41 Action News, the local television station, and told them he saw two black males between the ages of 20 and 30 ditch a black Infiniti behind his house, get out and then get into a faded blue van with tinted windows, before leaving. In any case, Yukmouth and Keak would later admit to Vlad that the atmosphere in Kansas City was tense.. He had long been the subject of rap world rumors. The van's driver crashed and called 911, but Hicks was pronounced dead at the scene from a bullet wound to the neck. While Mac Dre made his way through the city with Piersey, performing and appearing at different scheduled events, it was Whitmill who was responsible for making sure he got paid and that everything went according to plan. The Clark County District Attorneys Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. Laursen, meanwhile, ended up in the Bay Area, where she lived out of hotels at times and offered her services -- as "Alana" -- over the Craigslist Web site, police say. The new evidence is the latest chapter in a protracted legal saga involving numerous attempts by Dow to fight his conviction. He didnt recognize the driver, but assumed it was Papoose, because thats who Hill said hed sold the car too. There was also mud all along the bottom of the vehicle. While there, he recorded raps over the Fresno county jail telephone, where he taunted law enforcement. He used Mac Dres name to get a little more street cred for his career. [3], On November 1, 2004, Hicks was killed by an unknown assailant after a performance in Kansas City, Missouri,[4] a case that remains unsolved. Dow was with his 28-year-old girlfriend. Will we ever find out the truth about the murder of Mac Dre? Born Andre Hicks on July 5, 1970, in Oakland, California, he was raised in Vallejo, California in the Country Club Crest neighborhood, often called "The Crest," or "Crest Side" by its residents. Anyone with. The tipster had tried to reach Kansas City police, but couldnt get through. Taylor wasnt surprised to be speaking with detectives, having seen the black Infiniti on the news during reports of Mac Dres murder. Salvatto said she had never even heard of Dow or Mathis. Its all tangled up, Mr. Stinky says. Dre ran with a local group of teens who referred to themselves as the Romper Room Crew named after the TV show, in reference to the crews youth. Whitmill told Detective Babcock that Mac Dre didnt show up at the Armory until 30 minutes after he was supposed to finish performing, causing Whitmill to have to rent the venue for another hour. Yet another informant, Nicolas Bell, also incarcerated at CCA Leavenworth, told detectives a similar story on March 13, 2006. In the recent years Ive been more accepting of monetizing the legend, the name and Ive formed Andre Lewis Enterprise Company. 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. Be sure to follow Mike and The Cell Block on social media at @mikeenemigo and @thecellblockoffocial. In his interview with Babcock, Thibeaux said that he grew up with Whitmill in Kansas City and that hed heard him bragging about sending people to kill Mac Dre over a failed concert arrangement. It wasnt like he was the greatest rapper in town, but he would be getting into a lot of trouble with the law and so he had this sort of edgy thing with his music. But a local news crew had caught wind of the robbery over the police scanner and had prematurely gone to the bank. He was sentenced to five years in federal prison after he refused a plea deal for the conspiracy charge. Dre was reportedly offered a deal to snitch, but he refused, telling the prosecutors to go fuck themselves. Cancers. Here are the main Damu & Crips in Carson/Barson. If Andre was alive he would definitely be capitalizing and making as much money as he could.. While driving back to Vallejo, the car was surrounded by the FBI, Fresno, and Vallejo police. The witness, Antione Mouton, came forward after Dow reached out to a prosecutor in Boudins office for help. Mouton testified that he had the conversation with Dow on a footbridge in Las Vegas on Dec. 5, 2005. On the way back to Fresno, the car was pulled over and surrounded by officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as Vallejo police. In 2003, when Fat Tone was 22, he was shot while riding in a car through the Westport area of Kansas City with, interestingly, Dre associates Messy Marv and Killa Tay. Could this be a cryptic way of saying it was Tone and Cowboy, or have others passed on, too? He was a member of the infamous 51st Street Crips, even allegedly earning a leadership position after a turf battle with a gang member and convicted killer Rashawn Long, a former 51st Street boss. A white 2000 Pontiac. Hes a self-described hip-hop head and his lifestyle in the early 2000s closely mirrored the crime-fueled stories present in the genres most popular music. Dozens of tips recorded by KCPD feature some variation of Fat Tone and Mac Dre getting into an altercation. 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. The flip side of that was how bad you would feel when you couldnt get a case solved and you would have to tell the victims family that there was nothing new. Dude was our Tupac, dude was our Biggie Smalls, says Mac Mall. Keak Da Sneak would later tell VladTV it was he and Mac Mall who had an altercation, but with each other,and they are both associates of Dre. He called Whitmill back and told him and then Mac Dre ended up dead. Antwine and a friend asked them if they wanted to go to a rap concert on the night Mac Dre was murdered, according to the anonymous tip. Laursen was pronounced dead at the scene from a head wound. "[11] As gangster rap music consistently grew in popularity, law enforcement officials began examining the lyrics of local rappers to utilize as evidence in criminal matters. ZaRio Releases New Video She Dont Know Love. The white van allegedly belonged to Savino Davila, a 27-year-old man who prosecutors say was at the head of a drug trafficking organization that brought more than 330 pounds of cocaine into Kansas between 2000 and 2006. That appeared to be a type error, wrote KCPD Detective Mike Jones in an investigative report dated November 4, 2004. Born Andre Hicks on July 5, 1970, in Oakland, California, he was raised in Vallejo, California in the Country Club Crest neighborhood, often called The Crest, or Crest Side by its residents. Mac Dre & Ray Luv) 7. 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. His father was murdered when he was just a kid. More than 30 shots echoed in the night and yet nobody heard or called anything in until Piersey made it to The Sheraton. Gray grew up in the neighborhood and said he didnt know Mouton. A cosmic wrong that forever threw the world off balance for those who knew him best. Detective Babcock interviewed the stores owner, Byron Robinson, a week after the murder. Mac Dre was big enough for that. By May of 2005, just five months after Mac Dres murder, San Francisco promoter Andre Mac Minister Dow and Jason Corleone Mathis, a pimp, were trappin in Vegas. Police said there had been 29 robberies in under eight months. [10] Vallejo police began focusing on the Crest Neighborhood as a source of the crime. In a February 2021 interview, the Kansas City rapper Mr. Stinky said that he threw a show at the Atlantic Star the night before Mac Dres murder, which only added to the confusion later on. His accomplices were convicted of attempted bank robbery and given 10 years. Another informant from Leavenworth shared a similar story with Detective Babcock. Motherfuckers would try to beat him up because they were jealous of him. For legal purposes, Im not sure what to say. [17] In the early 2000s, Dre's change in sound became influential in the hyphy movement. There, he founded his independent label Thizz Entertainment, which is currently managed by his mother Wanda Salvatto. The crime scene spanned several hundred feet and it appeared to Detective Babcock to be a targeted hit. But it wasn't long before rumors started to fly about a rap war -- and "Fat Tone" Watkins. Sleep Dank, a Vallejo rapper and friend of Mac Dres, was born and raised in the Country Club Crest. The area was poorly lit thanks to a series of street lights along the west edge of the highway. Hes been accused of many other shootings and robberies, though none of them have ever been proven. When Mac Dres friends saw the news crew, they called it off, according to documents provided by the FBI. Davila wanted to leave out that last part for fear of incriminating himself, according to the informant. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Authorities linked the killings to the fatal shooting of Andre Mac Dre Hicks after a show in Kansas City a year earlier. The victim succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene, police said. Hes worked in the East Patrol Division, the Domestic Violence Unit, the Homicide Unit, the Mounted Patrol, the Generalist Squad and the Assault Squad, where hes currently a supervisor. The right side of the victims neck was up against a small tree.. The car even bore a "Bush Lost" bumper sticker. He tells Detective Babcock that every time something like this happens, he gets blamed and that he isnt worried because he knows he did nothing wrong. The first real tip came the day after the murder, when Detective Babcock was contacted by the local media, who told them that a man had reached out with information about a car. Mouton testified under an alias, according to Gray. Fat Tones reputation as a gangster was notorious. The department since 1995 its a story that lives at the scene from a bullet wound to fatal! 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