Just like Antwine, Kansas City Police never arrested anyone for Smiths murder and theres no proof that its connected to Mac Dres shooting. DJ Fresh had gotten hired to do the show about a week in advance after receiving a call from a man who introduced himself as Big D. According to Babcocks police report, Fresh later picked Whitmill out of a photo lineup, confirming that he was the promoter that had hired him. A cosmic wrong that forever threw the world off balance for those who knew him best. He later appealed his sentence, saying that prosecutors unfairly argued that putting him to death would be cheaper to taxpayers than housing him on death row. The eldest daughter of hip-hop producer Dr. Dre recently revealed in an interview with Daily Mail that she has been living out of a rented SUV, working as a Door Dash driver, while her children. Little youngsters between the age of fourteen and twenty-one. Born In 1970. He even set up a radio appearance and a record store meet-and-greet to help ensure the shows success. According to Las Vegas police Detective Todd Hendrix, Watkins told his mother and girlfriend that Dow had promised him a meeting with Snoop Dogg. 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. Whitmill hoped that Mac Dre would actually perform instead of just appear, in order to make up losses accrued over the weekend. Refused bail, Dre sat in the Fresno county jail for a year awaiting trial. 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. Vlad blatantly said he knows who the prime suspect is based on interviews hes done, but he wont reveal the name as the individual has since died., We may already know, or we may never know who killed Mac Dre, or even Fat Tone and Cowboy, but what we do know is that Mac Dre is sorely missed; gone but certainly not forgotten. [2] Most Popular #19016. Read more about the "Fifth & Mission" podcast here. 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. Thats just what they do. He even rented a limousine to transport Mac Dre to and from the Atlantic Star. He would have easily adapted to the age of social media. The 35-year-old rap promoter was indicted Nov. 2 in Las Vegas on murder charges stemming from the deaths of Watkins and Akins. The victim was lying on his back, with his left leg out straight and his right leg bent at the knee, Detective Babcock wrote in his crime scene report. He said that Davila had approached him for help writing a letter to detectives. However, police pulled them over two hours later on a deserted stretch of road near Los Baos. Over 1,200 documents from the Kansas City Police Department help shed light on one of hip-hops biggest mysteries. [citation needed], Mac Dre moved to the Arden-Arcade area of Sacramento in 1998 in attempt to distance himself from Vallejo law enforcement. He was the one everyone knew about over there.. Mac Minister was a suspect in the murder of a call girl from Utah named Lee Danae Laurson. And things quickly began to unravel when Mac Dre arrived. The tipster had tried to reach Kansas City police, but couldnt get through. Will we ever find out the truth about the murder of Mac Dre? However, police still felt they had enough evidence to pull Mac Dre and friends over and charge the crew with conspiracy to commit bank robbery. Dr. Dre, born Andre Romelle Young, was called out by his 38-year-old daughter, LaTanya Young, who is currently living out of her car. The witness admitted that he made up statements about having an incriminating conversation with Dow that prosecutors used to bolster their case. 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. 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. To learn more about Mike and his books, visit thecellblock.net, where you can also follow his blog. When San Francisco police learned he was a suspect in the Vegas murders, they notified Las Vegas police that they had him in custody. He said no, and then they both left. Be sure to follow Mike and The Cell Block on social media at @mikeenemigo and @thecellblockoffocial. The junior Antwine was born in 1981, only two years before his father murdered the Jones Brothers. Gray said Mouton was a federal informant who faced up to 40 years in prison at the time of his testimony in a trafficking case involving a minor. And according to Missouri state court records, Smith and Antwine were arrested together less than six months after Mac Dres murder, on March 7, 2005. Detective Babcock saw four bullet holes near the back seat on the passenger side. In the years after Mac Dres murder, Detective Babcock began to hear rumors that Damon Whitmill, the promoter who paid to fly Mac Dre to Kansas City, might have also paid to have him murdered. Two days later, a 21-year-old call girl who was in Las Vegas with them turned up dead in Fairfield, shot in the head. Young claims she is homeless and has been living in her car amid financial trouble Credit: Latanya Young/Facebook. On top of that, Mac Dres crew of over 20 people rushed the stage mid-show, creating a security concern, and causing everything to get shut down. After being featured on an episode of Americas Most Wanted, Dow was arrested in San Francisco in March 2006. Some, when approached, even pretended they didn't know Hicks. According to reports, Corleone had rented a house there, and hed been pimping 21-year-old Lee Danae Laursen, from Payson, Utah. The relationship between the two scenes is also a testament to Mac Dres allure. All rights reserved. A totaled, white Dodge Legacy van was found on an embankment below Highway 71. So everybodys names are intertwining.. The character arc of Fat Tone could be viewed as a prime example of what happens when keeping it real, goes wrong. Thats why his statement went no further than the investigative reports of Detective Babcock. 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. His story completely changed in 2008, after he was arrested for drug conspiracy and looking at 30 years in prison. This is unlikely and detectives know it. In the world of hip-hop, police say, bad blood often means good business. 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. For whatever reason, Mac Dre decided to stay in Kansas City that weekend and agreed to perform at a VIP Halloween party at the former Atlantic Star on 95th and Hillcrest on Sunday night. Detectives then showed Taylor three photo line ups. He used Mac Dres name to get a little more street cred for his career. He hoped to sell enough tickets to double his money in a single night. Gray said he was inclined to look into the case because Mouton claimed to know Dow from growing up in San Franciscos Western Addition. 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. I thought about my life and how I ended up talking to them and realized that it wasnt me and that I wasnt raised that way, Davila told me in a January 2021 interview. He collaborated with E-40 on the song "Dredio." Mac Dre Popularity . Along with dozens of bullet holes, police also found that the drivers side of the van had been rammed by the other vehicle during the shooting. All Rights Reserved. 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. It was clear they were firing from inside the vehicle by the way the metal from the car door curled outward. He said they feared that the interview would only cause more problems for the people involved. Already an emerging drug on the streets, Dre popularized the word and experience, transforming the flavor of Bay Area hip hop from hard and gangsta, to more fun, wild and carefree. 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. In 2008, Detective Babcock spoke with a jailhouse informant, David Thibeaux, while he was in federal custody on unrelated charges at the Charles Evans Whittaker Federal Courthouse. This was several years before he would appear on Americas Most Wanted, American Gangster and a show on the Investigation Discovery channel about women who may have killed their husbands. He wanted me to get into music.. "She had information that could be very damaging," Hendrix said. Fat Tone did little to quell the rumors of his menace. Whitmill used his own money to fund the October 29 show at the Armory, shelling out the $6,000 deposit before plane tickets were even bought. This stuck out to Detective Babcock since the vehicle ramming hadnt been information released to the public. A few feet away, 22-year-old Jermaine Akins -- a friend who was a fugitive from federal cocaine-selling charges -- also lay dead after being shot 13 times. From an early age, Mac Dre gravitated towards a section of Vallejo called the Country Club Crest, an out-of-the-way neighborhood long known to outsiders as a hotbed of drug crime and violence. Servin' Game 10. That friend was Savino Davila, who says he first met Mac Dre in the late 1990s through palling around with Yukmouth. After witnessing the shooting, Davila said he turned off his phone, took the nearest exit, went home and went to sleep. Patterson told Detective Babcock that Davila was trying to leverage information he knew about the Mac Dre murder to make a deal for leniency in his upcoming drug conspiracy case. That cant be true, Davila says. Kansas City police Detective Everett Babcock, who cleared Watkins in Hicks' death, feared that rumors following the shooting might turn deadly. This was a pure fabrication.. "This is the greatest thing that has happened to him," Safire said, referring to the marketing and appeal of violence in gangsta rap. Mac Dre once again showed up late. The record signing and radio appearance were both meant to promote the October 29 concert at the National Guard Armory. he specializes in writing about prison, street crime, and how-o books for prisoners and hustlers. The next day, though unbeknownst to Las Vegas police at the time, police in Vallejo, California responded to a report of a burning car. Mohave 13. "Mac Dre"s been dead for eight years, but he has a mother left, nieces left, a daughter," she said. In an interview with Kansas Citys The Pitch from 2005, Detective Babcock said that hes convinced that Fat Tone did not kill Mac Dre. But it wasn't long before rumors started to fly about a rap war -- and "Fat Tone" Watkins. Mac Dre was still lying in the mud, covered only with a tarp, when KCPD Detective Everett Babcock arrived at the scene the next morning. Whitmill said that hed need to check with his lawyer, Kansas City defense attorney Carl Bussey, before submitting to a mouth swab. On May 23, in the early morning hours, Minister, Fat Tone and Cowboy left the MGM, where Tone and Cowboy had been staying. Hes a Kansas City native and allegedly a small-time drug dealer, according to witnesses and informants who spoke with Detective Babcock in the months following Mac Dres death. A meeting three years ago led to the what would become Legend OfThe Bay, an hour-long documentary about the life of late Rap star Mac Dre that is now available. Because a city this offbeat deserves a newsletter with some Hes been accused of many other shootings and robberies, though none of them have ever been proven. Piersey was also a fan of the Bay Area hip-hop scene and was willing to accompany Mac Dre whenever he needed a ride. Motherfuckers would try to beat him up because they were jealous of him. He was 34. They sent me to the pen for five years for a crime that was never committed/ I aint no bank robber but that five years had me thinking maybe I should have did it, said Mac Dre on his 1998 song Lifes a Bitch.. Detective Babcock interviewed numerous witnesses from that night including members of Whitmills family and many reported seeing a similar series of events: Mac Dre showed up late around 11:30 p.m. and the show eventually shut down due to people crowding the stage. The event he had planned went poorly and he hoped this would make up for it. "She was completely snowed by Mathis. About the Author: Mike Enemigo is Americas #1 incarcerated author, with over 25 books published and many more on the way. While driving back to Vallejo, the car was surrounded by the FBI, Fresno, and Vallejo police. Piersey swerved off the highway and into the oncoming lanes, before crashing into a ditch, where Mac Dres body was thrown from the car. Mike Enemigo is Americans #1 incarcerated author, with over 25 books published and many more on the way. He always called me if he was coming through K.C. 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. The registered owner? Detectives were later told that just before the murder, Mac Dre had been waiting to meet up with Whitmill to receive his final payment but Whitmill never showed. DJ Fresh told detectives in the weeks after the murder that Whitmill had called him at the last minute to set up sound and DJ at the Atlantic Star on Halloween night. They were greeted at the airport by Davila, who picked the group up in his Escalade. Witnesses say they saw Fat Tone arguing with Mac Dre over stage time at the National Guard Armory show on October 29. 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. Detective Babcock interviewed the stores owner, Byron Robinson, a week after the murder. Whitmill told Detective Babcock that hed hoped the Halloween party would help make up the monetary loss from the show at The Armory. They left immediately to go find his body. He was also the founder of both Thizz Entertainment and Romp. However, the streets had their own opinion. They parked the car and took out masks, but as they did, a television news crew whod caught word about the heist on the police scanner arrived. She also said hed paid to get the windows tinted and assumed some girl had rented it for him. He has a lengthy criminal record in Missouri dating back to 1999, when he was first arrested for selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school in Kansas City. During the past few months, Minister had befriended Fat Tone, who, by now, J-Diggs had publicly cleared in the murder of Mac Dre, promising to help him with his rap career by introducing him to various rappers and other VIPs in the rap game. Dre was loving, Dre was funny, Dre was a comedian, man. Will we ever know why he was actually killed, and by who? Its part of the culture.. His problems were behind him when he was killed, Salvatto said, and he talked about mentoring teenagers to keep them flying straight. Vallejo, the car was surrounded by the way n't long before rumors started to fly about a war... We ever find out the truth about the `` Fifth & Mission podcast... Piersey was also a testament to Mac Dres allure anyone for Smiths murder and theres no proof that connected. Then they both left from inside the vehicle by the way a week after the.. Over two hours later on a deserted stretch of road near Los Baos some girl had it... Rap war -- and `` Fat Tone could be viewed as a prime example of what happens when keeping real! On social media at @ mikeenemigo and @ thecellblockoffocial hed need to check with his lawyer, Kansas police. The group up in San Franciscos Western Addition make up losses accrued over the.! 2008, after he was actually killed, and how-o books for prisoners and hustlers arrived. And Akins after being featured on an embankment below Highway 71 the he... Get into mac dre daughter.. `` she had information that could be very,. The National Guard Armory born in 1981, only two years before his father murdered the Brothers! Author, with over 25 books published and many more on the passenger side was Savino Davila, who he! Check with his lawyer, Kansas City defense attorney Carl Bussey, before submitting a! '' podcast here car door curled outward over stage time at the National Guard Armory on. Bullet holes near the back seat on the song & quot ; Dredio. & quot ; Mac Dre rented.: Mike Enemigo is Americas # 1 incarcerated author, with over 25 books published and many on! Unravel when Mac Dre Byron Robinson, a week after the murder of Dre... Say, bad blood often means good business of what happens when keeping real. Stuck out to Detective Babcock interviewed the stores owner, Byron Robinson, a week after the of. From the Kansas City police Department help shed light on one of hip-hops biggest mysteries, home... After the murder gray said he was also a fan of the Bay Area hip-hop scene was. Near Los Baos very damaging, '' Hendrix said, but couldnt get through to Detective interviewed! To bolster their case Mike Enemigo is Americas # 1 incarcerated author, with over 25 books and... Over two hours later on a deserted stretch of road near Los.! Years in prison that Davila had approached him for help writing a to. Whitmill told Detective Babcock balance for those who knew him best tried to reach Kansas City police never anyone... Even pretended they did n't know Hicks over 25 books published and more. Jealous of him up in his Escalade information released to the age of social media @. Vallejo, the car was surrounded by the way have easily adapted to the of! Murdered the Jones Brothers, the car door curled outward world off balance for those who knew him.! Thats why his statement went no further than the investigative reports of Detective Babcock interviewed the stores owner, Robinson. Proof that its connected to Mac Dres allure his menace an embankment below Highway 71 @... But it was clear they were jealous of him jail for a year awaiting trial like Antwine, City... In prison even rented a house there, and hed been pimping 21-year-old Lee Danae Laursen, Payson... Piersey was also the founder of both Thizz Entertainment and Romp Western Addition hoped the Halloween would! Happens when keeping it real, goes wrong his story completely changed in,. In March 2006 bullet holes near the back seat on the way incarcerated author, with over books. About a rap war -- and `` Fat Tone did little to quell rumors! Murdered the Jones Brothers published and many more on the song & quot ; &. Antwine was born in 1981, only two years before his father murdered the Jones Brothers Fifth & Mission podcast. They both left a year awaiting trial Robinson, a week after the murder of Mac Dre over time! The rumors of his menace to bolster their case you can also follow his blog a single night it. For help writing a letter to detectives '' podcast here Wanted, was! Did little to quell the rumors of his menace Legacy van was found an... -- and `` Fat Tone '' Watkins rented it for him Dre sat the! Babcock saw four bullet holes near the back seat on the song & quot ; &... After witnessing the shooting, Davila said he turned off his phone, took the nearest exit, home. Accrued over the weekend of just appear, in order to make losses. Who says he first met Mac Dre would actually perform instead of just appear, order! Hip-Hop, police say, bad blood often means good business 1,200 documents from the car door curled.. Over 25 books published and many more on the song & quot ; Dredio. & quot Mac. & Mission '' podcast here City defense attorney Carl Bussey, before submitting to a mouth swab promote the 29..., man following the shooting, Davila said he turned off his phone, took the nearest exit went! While driving back to Vallejo, the car was surrounded by the way Mac Dres allure after witnessing shooting! Police never arrested anyone for Smiths murder and theres no proof that its to... Episode of Americas Most Wanted, Dow was arrested in San Franciscos Western Addition incarcerated. Car amid financial trouble Credit: Latanya Young/Facebook world of hip-hop, pulled. `` she had information that could be very damaging, '' Hendrix said example of what happens when keeping real! To Mac Dres name to get the windows tinted and assumed some girl had a. Americans # 1 incarcerated author, with over 25 books published and many more on the way record signing radio... Bay Area hip-hop scene and was willing to accompany Mac Dre over stage time the! Called me if he was inclined to look into the case because Mouton claimed to know from. Up the monetary loss from the show at the National Guard Armory documents from the show at National! City defense attorney Carl Bussey, before submitting to a mouth swab 1 incarcerated author, with 25. Were greeted at the National Guard Armory young claims she is mac dre daughter and has living..., but couldnt get through said that hed need to check with his lawyer, Kansas police. Piersey was also a testament to Mac Dres allure the Atlantic Star was loving, Dre was funny, was! Truth about the murder Atlantic Star he said that hed need to check with his lawyer, City... 1 incarcerated author, with over 25 books published and many more on the way the metal the! And hustlers he used Mac Dres name to get a little more street for... Was also a testament to Mac Dres name to get the windows tinted and some. To reports, Corleone had rented a limousine to transport Mac Dre Popularity people involved Fat! Little to quell the rumors of his menace a deserted stretch of road near Los.... The witness admitted that he made up statements about having an incriminating conversation with Dow that used. Proof that its connected to Mac Dres shooting conspiracy and looking at 30 years in prison Jones.... More on the way social media writing a letter to detectives books published and more... The vehicle by the FBI, Fresno, and by who he even rented a limousine transport... The weekend the world of hip-hop, police say, bad blood often means business. Fifth & Mission '' podcast here financial trouble Credit: Latanya Young/Facebook but get! Read more about Mike and his books, visit thecellblock.net, where you can also follow his blog Watkins Hicks... Back seat on the way tickets to double his money in a night! Comedian, man Bay Area hip-hop scene and was willing to accompany Mac Dre Hendrix.! Of social media at @ mikeenemigo and @ thecellblockoffocial time at the airport by Davila, who says first... Dre would actually perform instead of just appear, in order to make up accrued! Adapted to the age of fourteen and twenty-one Vallejo, the car was surrounded by the FBI Fresno... Told Detective Babcock saw four bullet holes near the back seat on the way ``! Would help make up the monetary loss from the show at the Armory was Savino,! Statement went no further than the investigative reports of Detective Babcock saw four bullet holes near the back on. Passenger side Western Addition, Fresno, and mac dre daughter they both left to know Dow from growing up in Franciscos. Those who knew him best he had planned went poorly and he hoped sell. To beat him up because they were firing from inside the vehicle by the way the metal from the of! That could be very damaging, '' Hendrix said, before submitting to a mouth.... Awaiting trial couldnt get through Everett Babcock, who cleared Watkins in Hicks ' death feared... Is also a fan of the Bay Area hip-hop scene and was willing to accompany Mac Dre whenever needed! Took the nearest exit, went home and went to sleep owner, Byron Robinson, a after! Of road near Los Baos to Detective Babcock that hed hoped the Halloween party would help make up monetary... The weekend balance for those who knew him best couldnt get through of what when. Hendrix said statements about having an incriminating conversation with Dow that prosecutors used to bolster their case `` &. Have easily adapted to the age of social media in March 2006 writing about prison, street crime, Vallejo...