In the early hours yesterday morning (February 21), aspiring Oakland, California rapper Kenny Clutch (born Kenneth Cherry, Jr.) was shot and killed while driving down Las Vegas Boulevard in the Nevada city. According to CNN’s report, after being struck, the rapper lost control of his Maserati and collided with a taxi at an intersection. Kenny Clutch, the taxi driver Michael Bolden and the yet-to-be identified passenger all died in the fiery crash. The shooters have yet to identified or caught by authorities.
The incident took place approximately a block away from where Tupac Shakur was shot and later killed from a 1996 drive-by.
Reports indicate that at 4:20 am local time, an altercation broke out in the valet parking section at the Aria Hotel, reportedly involving another party and Clutch, who was entering his vehicle. The other party was driving a black Range Rover. Moments later, a block away, a person in the Range Rover shot Clutch, driving the Maserati, ensuing the crash seconds later.
“It is gut-wrenching,” a tearful Tehran Boldon, the late taxi driver’s brother told KVVU, which was quoted at CNN. “My life mission would be to see them punished and brought to justice for the senseless thing they did.”
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Clutch’s attorney, Vicki Greco, was also quoted, “Out of everyone I know in the rapping industry there is no way I would have ever, ever expected to find that he was shot on the Las Vegas strip in such an aggressive manner…He didn’t have a (criminal) record or a history. He was just a good kid trying to make it and be a good father.” Clutch was a reported father of three, according to a local NBC affiliate.
Clark County Sherriff Doug Gillispie stated, “What happened will not be tolerated,” promising the shooters will be “found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Not much is known of Kenny Clutch’s Rap career. The fledgling artist had released a series of videos to YouTube, including his own rendendition of Rick Ross’ “Stay Schemin’,” also shot on the Vegas Strip.
