The hip-hop community suffered another tragic loss this past weekend when M-Bone, one-fourth of the West Coast hip-hop group Cali Swag District, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting on May 15 in his hometown of Inglewood, Calif.
According to radaronline.com, witnesses claim that on Sunday evening, the “Teach Me How to Dougie” rapper, born Mante Talbert, was seated in the driver’s side of an unspecified black vehicle outside of a liquor store at 416 North La Brea Boulevard when an unknown gunman in a separate car pulled up next to Talbert and let off at least two shots before speeding away from the scene.
Around 10:30 p.m. local police were called to the scene and upon their arrival, police found the 22-year-old rapper slumped over the steering wheel with two gunshot wounds to the head. Talbert was immediately rushed to the hospital where he eventually died from his injuries.
Fellow group member C-Smoove tweeted the news to fans early Monday morning, “Ma life changed drastically in the blink of an eye. rip mbone.”
According to Inglewood police, conflicting stories about the murder and a lack of cooperation from possible witnesses are making it difficult for police to investigate the crime.
“It is still really early on in the investigation, and we have been getting some conflicting statements about what happened,” said one detective. “So far, we do not think that anybody witnessed the actual shooting, and we could be looking for a red or white vehicle.”
Although the crime was initially reported as random act of violence, new reports are claiming that Talbert’s murder may have been in act of malice.
According to tmz.com, Talbert’s friends have explained to investigators that the rapper recently met and became romantically involved with a girl when he returned to Los Angeles after touring. Allegedly, the shooter was a male tenant who lived in the young woman’s complex who didn’t approve of the relationship and began threatening Talbert via Twitter, causing a Twitter feud.
Witnesses from the report claim that the shooter unloaded his gun, left the scene, then came back to make sure that he’d hit his target. The car that Talbert was shot in is registered in the young woman’s name.
The Inglewood Police Department is asking anyone with information to come forward and call its homicide division at (310) 412-5246 or its 24-hour anonymous hotline number, (888) 41 CRIME, or (888) 412-7463
Do you believe Talbert’s death is connected to the male tenant and the Twitter feud? –nicholas robinson
