Oakland rapper 'Kenny Clutch' killed in Las Vegas Strip shooting

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><iframe frameborder="0" height="347" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://widget.newsinc.com/single.html?WID=1&VID=24464836&freewheel=69016&sitesection=latimes&w=620&h=347" width="620"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">One of the victims in a <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-vegas-shooting-20130222,0,458892.story" style="color: #2262cc; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">spectacular predawn shooting</a> and crash on the Las Vegas Strip has been identified as Kenneth Cherry Jr., an aspiring rapper known as Kenny Clutch.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">His attorney, Vicki Greco, said his death was shocking.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">"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," Greco said.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">"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." Cherry had two children, she said.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">According to his Facebook page, Cherry is from Oakland and lived in Las Vegas.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">He died early Thursday morning when bullets fired from a black Range Rover peppered his Maserati, authorities said.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">They said Cherry and the occupants of the Range Rover had left the Aria resort hotel and were heading north on Las Vegas Boulevard at 4:20 a.m., an hour when the casino marquees shine brightly but the gambling thoroughfare is largely empty. At Harmon Avenue, occupants inside the Range Rover opened fire on the Maserati, police said.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">The silver-gray sports car, which was struck several times, sped into the intersection at Flamingo Road, ramming a Yellow cab, officials said. The taxi exploded, killing the driver and a passenger. Four other vehicles in the intersection were also involved in the crash and explosion, but police offered no details.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Cherry died later at a hospital.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Police had more questions than answers.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">"It began with a dispute at a nearby hotel and spilled onto the streets," said Capt. Chris Jones of the Las Vegas Police Robbery and Homicide Division.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Cherry's aunt, Pat Sims of Oakland, told the <a href="http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_22636325/3-dead-several-hurt-las-vegas-strip-shooting" style="color: #2262cc; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Oakland Tribune</a> that her nephew was a kind soul.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">"I can tell you this ... the world has lost a good man," Sims said. "I'm not saying he didn't have his faults, but he was very kind, especially to older people. Whatever happened in Vegas, I don't know about, but he was a very kind soul."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">The newspaper reported that Cherry had several arrests in Oakland and Berkeley, many for gun charges. He was convicted on a gun charge in 2007, stemming from an arrest in Berkeley, sources told the Tribune, although details on that conviction weren't immediately available.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">In 1996, rapper Tupac Shakur was shot and killed two blocks from Thursday's accident scene, at the intersection of Flamingo Boulevard and Koval Lane, as he rode in a car driven by Death Row Records Chairman Marion "Suge" Knight.</div></div>

Kenny Clutch Oakland rapper 'Kenny Clutch' killed in Las Vegas Strip shooting

One of the victims in a  spectacular predawn shooting  and crash on the Las Vegas Strip has been identified as Kenneth Cherry Jr., an aspiri...

Read more »