A 17-year-old rapper named YNT Juan was shot dead in Hartford, Connecticut on Sunday while he was sitting in his parked car.
The young rapper, real name Juan Bautista Garcia, had over 25,000 Instagram followers and nearly 4,000 YouTube views. His most recent video, titled “Power Remix” was released just last week. “He was only 17 years old,” a childhood friend of the MC told HipHopDX. “He never went live on his Instagram to talk about drama, he only went on there to support his friends or promote his music. [He] didn’t even get to graduate school yet.” The circumstances surrounding his death are currently being investigated by the Hartford Police Major Crime and Crime Scene divisions.
YNT Juan’s murder is now the 25th homicide that police are investigating this year in Hartford, which ties the number of homicides in 2020 and doubles the total record number of homicides in 2019. YNT Juan’s last Instagram Story, posted mere hours before his death, was promoting his new music video for “Power Remix,” which was released on Tuesday. The other music videos for his single’s “Detroit” and “Snakes,” are also on YouTube, both of which have thousands of views.
The young rapper’s murder is part of an unsettling trend of fatal shootings that have transpired since King Von’s November 2020 murder. Mo3, Hot Boy Ju, 2Pac and Ice Cube affiliate Gonzoe and Lil Durk’s young brother DThang are among the other rappers who have been killed in recent months.
We send our condolences to the family of Juan Bautista Garcia.
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