It has been reported that a California rapper died after being shot multiple times by an assailant in a dark SUV in Koreatown on Monday Night. KTTV-TV, Channel 11 identified the victim as Inglewood native Half Ounce, who released his latest album Gang Bangin in May this year. It was then confirmed by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, which revealed that the victim was Latauriisha O’Brien, the rapper’s real name.
Half Ounce is the third rapper to be shot and killed in Los Angeles County within a month. On September 12th, PnB Rock was killed in a blundered robbery of his jewellery when he was eating lunch at Roscoe’s House of Chicken & Waffles in South Los Angeles. Then, on September 24th, Kian Nellum was killed alongside Robert Leflore Jr. in Compton.
The shootings seem to be unrelated. However, the LAPD has said that there has been an increase in “follow-home” robberies targeting celebrities. On Monday night, the police were called after shots were fired in the 700 block of South New Hampshire Avenue as a man’s screams were heard.
When they arrived, they found the victim’s body in front of an apartment with gunshot wounds. It was reported by OnScene.TV that the body was found in a planter, with the police believing the assailant to have fled in the SUV.
At the time, a spokesperson for the LAPD said the victim was yet to be identified, with KTTV only managing to confirm them as Half Ounce after speaking to his pregnant wife and mother. It was reported that his wife told the channel that she was on the phone with him when he was out walking with a friend when she heard the shots.
Half Ounce was open about his links to gangs and had stints in jail due to his connections to the underworld, but when speaking to StreetTV in 2013, he said he’d be happy to work with musicians from rival gangs.
