Detectives now believe three rappers who were found dead in Detroit days ago were likely targeted.
On Tuesday, authorities confirmed Armani Kelly, Montoya Givens, and Dante Wicker all suffered multiple gunshot wounds. The three went missing in January after their performance at Lounge 31 in Detroit was canceled due to equipment issues. On January 21st, Kelly left his home in Oscoda, Michigan, and headed to Detroit, where he was to meet up with Givens and Wicker. After learning the event wasn’t taking place, Kelly told his family he would be looking for another club to perform at. Shortly after, all contact with him ceased. Givens and Wicker also fell silent, with all the men’s cell phones being turned off around the same time. Kelly’s mother used Onstar to track his vehicle after he vanished, which was seen in three separate locations in Warren, about an hour and a half north of Detroit. A 15-year-old boy was found driving the car, but it is unclear if he is a suspect in the case. The men’s remains were found in an abandoned apartment on Thursday, February 2nd.
As the investigation marches on, it has been revealed that the killings were not random acts. In fact, Michigan State Police confirmed that they are confident they have identified a motive, though that information has not been made public. A Highland Park man, who has not been publicly identified, was arrested in Knoxville, Tennessee. Though he was not charged with the killings, he is being questioned in the deaths of Kelly, Givens, and Wicker.
Givens’ mother, Catina Fogle, told FOX 2 that her son was getting his life together after being released from prison. He served ten years for carjacking and robbery and had only been home for ten months before he was killed. He’d met Wicker and Kelly while in prison, and together, the men pursued rap careers, all determined to change their lives.
“Ten years of my son’s life was taken away from me, and then I get him back for ten months, and he’s dead. How am I supposed to feel?” Fogle shared.
