Manager
of rapper
Lor Scoota shot, killed
Violence has again staggered Baltimore's rap community even as fans still mourn the slain Lor Scoota: The rapper's manager, Trayvon “Truz” Lee, was gunned down Wednesday night outside his home near Druid Hill Park.
Lee, 24, was the second victim in two weeks among Young Ballers Shinning, a Baltimore rap crew whose fans write “YBS” on their notebooks and wear the initials on their T-shirts.
“Once Scoota dropped, you knew something was going to happen, but this?” said Levardis “Lil Black” McLaughlin, a 92Q radio personality.
Lee's death comes after Tyriece Watson, better known as Lor Scoota, was killed June 25 while leaving a peace rally in East Baltimore.
Police have not named suspects in either shooting.
“The obvious question that everyone wants to know is, are these two incidents related? Of course, that's something we're looking into. But we do not have the answer,” said T.J. Smith, a Baltimore police spokesman. “This is the back-and-forth violence that we talk about often, when a violent act occurs and somebody from one crew goes after another crew.
“It's literally a tennis match of violence,” Smith said.
Lee was shot multiple times in the upper body Wednesday outside his home in the 2300 block of Anoka Ave. in Northwest Baltimore. Officers responded about 7:45 p.m. and he was taken to the hospital, where he died, police said.
His family declined to comment Thursday.
“We're dealing with another young man who was taken away from his family,” Smith said.
On the radio, disc jockeys offered condolences.
“We follow and idolize our own,” said McLaughlin. “YBS and them, they got real ties with industry artists because they have real music.”
Lee was a professional businessman, often the steady presence, McLaughlin said. “He was the loudest quiet person in the room. He made a lot of noise without saying nothing, like Prince. Prince never spoke, but was well spoken. He was one of those.”
McLaughlin expressed concern that the city's youth, confronted again and again with violence, grow numb.
“There's so much death in our city, now the only ‘wow' factor you get is the name behind it,” he said. “Until you deal with the hurt and the pain that people are carrying around, this is what you get.”
Last year, there were 344 homicides in Baltimore, including 301 fatal shootings, in the deadliest year per capita in city history. There have been about 130 shooting deaths in the city this year.
Popular dirt bike rider Chino Braxton, 19, posted a photo of himself and Lee on Instagram Thursday morning with a long caption mourning the loss and praising Lee's efforts as a father.
“I went through so much this year it's crazy,” Braxton wrote. “I was shot in my head 2times ... then we lose ya artist @scootaupnext ... Then a week later we lost you.”
In a recent interview with The Baltimore Sun, Braxton said Lee was his brother. After Wednesday's shooting, he pledged to take care of Lee's son and family.
“The city I did so much for an put it all behind had betrayed me bro,” Braxton wrote. “They took you.”
Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill shared Braxton's post and added, “I been seeing so much death lately it's a shame!”
In a Facebook video, Baltimore rapper Tate Kobang called the violence in Baltimore “really ... crazy.”
“I'm worried for not only my city, my people,” he said.
In February, Braxton was shot on the same block as Lee and survived a bullet to the head.
“My lil sister was standing in the door when I got shot,” Braxton tweeted Thursday. “She was standing in the door when her other brother loss his life.”
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