The distraught mother of a slain rapper said she warned him to delete a post in which she bragged about how his girlfriend shot and killed a robber just hours before he was killed in an alleged revenge attack.
Bernita Ward said she believes her son, whose rap name was BTB Savage, was killed in “retaliation” for interviews and Instagram posts in which he boasted about fending off an attempted robbery at his home.
Her son, whose real name is Darrell Gentry, was shot Thursday in the exclusive town of River Oaks near Fort Worth, Texas.
Earlier this week, Gentry, 26, who had a four-year-old son and served in the military for four years, gave a now-viral interview with VLAD-TV, describing how he and his girlfriend fought off an attempted robbery at his apartment. in February.
Rapper BTB Savage (above), real name Darrell Gentry, posted this photo to his Instagram showing himself in the bloody aftermath of an alleged attempted robbery at his apartment
Gentry’s mother, Bernita Ward (above), said she told him to delete the post just hours before he was shot dead in what she said was a revenge killing
On Thursday, he posted a photo to his Instagram account showing him standing in the middle of the bloody crime scene.
Hours later, he was shot dead, Houston police said.
Ms Ward said she warned him to stop posting on social media and giving interviews about the deadly gunfight.
“I said get that off social media,” she told ABC13. Let this family mourn in peace. However, they taunted my son and told him they would kill the family, make his mother cry and kill his son. I told my son, ‘Don’t respond. Let it go. But their relatives came to rob my son.’
She added that she had no doubt that her son’s murder was related to the robbery.
In his interview with VLAD-TV, Gentry had mentioned that a group contacted him asking to get involved in a song he thought would spark his rap career.
Instead, they came to his apartment in San Antonio and tried to rob him.
He described how he ordered his girlfriend to shoot the alleged intruder.
Gentry said the alleged robber begged him for mercy, saying he “had kids too,” but told him, “I don’t care about you.” You are dying.’
Gentry said he thought the group who showed up at his apartment wanted him to play in a rap, but it turned into an attempted robbery where the assailant was shot dead.
In a viral interview, Gentry said the alleged intruder begged for his life, but told him ‘you’re going to die’
When asked if he was concerned about retaliation, Gentry said, “They may do what they do, but I’m going to get active. That’s all it is.’
Police at the crime scene where Gentry was shot in a drive-by shooting on Thursday
He added that his attacker begged for his life as he lay dying on the floor of his apartment. “He’s like ‘come on bro, take me with you bro, I can make it to the hospital, I just have to go to the hospital’.
“I thought I wasn’t going to take you to a goddamn hospital boy. When they come to save you, they come to save you. If not, you’re out. Last day. Last Supper. Whoever you ate before you came here.’
When the interviewer asked if he was concerned about retaliation, he said, “They may be doing what they’re doing, but I’m going to get active. That’s all it is.’
Houston police say the two suspects charged with shooting Gentry were in a black Subaru, dressed in black with hoodies and sunglasses. They got out of the vehicle and fled to San Felipe, police told ABC13.
There has been a spate of gun deaths involving American rappers in recent years. Earlier this month, three men were found guilty of first-degree murder on Monday in the 2018 murder of star rapper XXXTentacion, who was shot outside a South Florida motorcycle shop while being robbed of $50,000.
In 2022, 20-year-old rapper Baby Cino was shot and killed during a freeway ambush just minutes after being released from a Florida prison.