Rapper Chris King, fatally shot at 32, mourned by former housemate Justin Bieber
Rapper Chris King is being remembered by former housemate Justin Bieber, and other stars, after he was fatally shot in Nashville, Tennessee, last weekend. He was 32.
The Snotty Nose Records CEO and founder, born Christopher Cheeks, was found in the parking garage of the Hayes Street Hotel and transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he later died, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
The shooting, which also wounded an unidentified 29-year-old, occurred at 2:30 a.m. local time Saturday in an alleyway of Music City, where King had been to perform at Friday’s Nashville CannaFestival.
King and the other man were hanging out with friends when a trio of men attempted to rob King’s group. They eventually heard gunfire, after which the 29-year-old realized he’d been shot, he told authorities.
No one else is believed to have been wounded.
The investigation is ongoing, though Nashville police say they are following “strong, active leads.”
King was honored Saturday by Bieber in a since-expired Instagram story, People reports.
“Love you bro. This one hurts,” he wrote. “Please keep his family in your prayers. See you in paradise brother.”
King revealed in early December that nearly a decade ago, he lived at “my brother” Bieber’s home for a year and a half.
“Glad some people never change no matter what. All love, forever extended family,” he said at the time, captioning a photo and video from a recent meetup in Los Angeles.
Actress Keke Palmer also paid tribute to King on Sunday, sharing a throwback screenshot of the pair talking over iChat.
“Your kindness was present no matter what room you were in, everybody was and wanted to be your friend,” she wrote of King, who she said she knew back in high school.
King’s collaborator and close pal, Trippie Redd, said he was “so hurt rn I can’t even think I love you bro come back!!!!!!”
“Chris was rare,” Machine Gun Kelly commented on Redd’s post.