Police have identified one of the two suspects believed to be involved in the drive-by shooting that killed emerging rapper BTB Savage.
According to the Houston Police Department, 40-year-old Montrel Lenard Burley has been charged with murder. He is still at large.
Another suspect who has not been identified is also wanted in connection to the shooting death of 26-year-old BTB Savage, real name Darrell Gentry.
The shooting happened on March 30 in the River Oaks area. Police responded to a drive-by shooting and found BTB Savage suffering from a gunshot wound at the entrance of a parking garage. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
During the investigation into the shooting, witnesses told police that a black Subaru pulled up and began firing on a white Mercedes. The suspects then fled the area in the Subaru SUV.
BTB Savage’s mom Bernita Ward told ABC13 that she believes he was killed in retaliation for shooting and killing someone that tried to rob him in February. The shooting was considered self-defense, and BTB Savage was not charged.
The same day he was killed, the rapper posted a picture of him standing in the crime scene of the robbery gone wrong. Ward said she warned her son to stay off social media and to stop participating in interviews. A VladTV interview where he discussed the shooting at length was circulating on the Internet at the time of his death.
“I said take that off social media,” Ward told the outlet. “Let this family mourn in peace. They were taunting my son, though, telling him they were going to kill the family, make his mother cry, and kill his son. I told my son, ‘Don’t respond. Let it go.’ But their family member came to rob my son.”
Now, police are asking anyone with information on Burley’s whereabouts to contact them at (713) 308-3600 or contact CrimeStoppers.
