Rising rapper shot dead in Florida

DEERFIELD BEACH, Florida — Troubled rapper-singer XXXTentacion was shot and killed Monday in Florida in what police called an apparent robbery attempt, authorities said.

The 20-year-old rising star, whose real name is Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, was pronounced dead Monday evening at a Fort Lauderdale-area hospital. He was shot earlier Monday outside a Deerfield Beach motorcycle dealership.

XXXTentacion had been at RIVA Motorsports checking out inventory, the sheriff’s office said. He was in his black vehicle and preparing to leave when two armed suspects approached him. At least one of them fired, and then both suspects fled the scene in a dark-coloured SUV. Investigators don’t have a motive, and no arrests have been made.

XXXTentacion was a rising star and notched a No. 1 album last month with his sophomore effort ? and had a top 10 hit with Sad! but was facing trial on charges that he beat up his pregnant girlfriend.

XXXTentacion racked up huge streaming numbers — on Spotify, his Sad! had more than 270 million streams and was on its Top 50 chart this week in the United States and globally. He also has several songs that have been declared platinum, including Changes, Roll in Peace with fellow rapper Kodak Black and Look at Me!

But much of his brief career has been mired in controversy. In 2016, he was arrested on charges including home invasion for a 2015 incident, and less than a month later was arrested on charges that he attacked his girlfriend, who was pregnant at the time. He was released from jail on house arrest late last year and was released from house arrest earlier this year to allow him to tour.