New Orleans Rapper Sporty T Gunned Down!
Unknown gunmen toting an AK-47 opened fire on the exterior of a FEMA trailer in Gentilly this morning, murdering a former local rapper who was sleeping inside, according to the New Orleans Police Department.
Terence Vine, a rapper known to friends and fans as "Sporty T," was in bed when the gunmen sprayed his trailer with bullets, several of which struck his body, according to police. John Gagliano, chief investigator for the New Orleans coroner's office, said Vine was 39, but family members and Garry Flot, a police spokesman, said they believed Vine was 41...
At 4:22 a.m. Tuesday, NOPD received a "shots fired" call from 5150 Painters St., Flot said. When police officers and other emergency workers arrived, they found the exterior of Vine's trailer riddled with at least 28 bullet holes.
Inside, they found Vine wounded. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene, said Jeb Tate, a New Orleans EMS spokesman.
At least three rounds exited the other side of the trailer. One round lodged in the driver's seat of a black Nissan Pathfinder, parked in the driveway, that belonged to Vine's sister Michele Vine. Another blew out her rear driver's side tire, and another shattered the rear driver's side window.
Det. Michael S. McCleery is heading the investigation. Police had no motive, suspects or witnesses, according to Flot.
In the hours after the shooting, several family members filed in and out of a peach-colored home behind Vine's trailer, consoling each other and preparing the home to receive friends and family throughout the day.
Sheila Vine, another sister of Terence Vine, said her brother was a Gentilly-bred rapper with more than a dozen CDs credited to his name before he had put aside rap music, becoming a hard-working father devoted to a 10-year-old son's love for sports.
Vine joined a rap trio known as the "Ninja Crew" when he was 14, recording three albums. He then signed as a solo artist with Big Boy Records and recorded more than a dozen albums with them, the sister said. Eight years ago, he left the label and started his own Sporty Records, where he recorded the last of his work.
Terence Vine was the second member of the Ninja Crew to be murdered, Sheila Vine said. The only surviving member, a tall, heavyset man identifying himself as "Gregory D," pulled up to the home this morning and embraced Sheila Vine as he said, "I'm sorry," through quiet sobs. He led her away from the trailer and later declined comment.
"That was his best friend," Sheila Vine said.
Terence Vine left behind two 10-year-old sons and a 15-year-old stepdaughter. He had been working as a self-employed dry wall contractor, relatives said.
The former rapper had not seen one son since the son's mother moved after Hurricane Katrina, but he spent all the free time he could with the second one, who lived in Houston with his mother, Sheila Vine said. That son had spent Father's Day weekend with his father. The son is attending a summer camp in Houston and was preparing to stay with his father for the rest of the summer after camp broke, Sheila Vine said.
Many saw Terence Vine and his son together at soccer, boxing, football and basketball practices, especially when the boy played for Milne Boys Home teams before Hurricane Katrina hit, Sheila Vine said.
"My brother wasn't beefing with anybody," Sheila Vine said. "He didn't go out much. He just worked. He kept to himself. He loved his kids."
Anyone with information is asked to call Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111 or toll free at 1 (877) 903-7867. Callers do not have to give their names or testify and can earn up to $2,500 for tips that lead to an indictment.
Ramon Antonio Vargas can be reached at
rvargas@timespicayune.com.
Source: nola.com
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