MEMPHIS, Tenn. — LePreston Porter, known as rapper Snootie Wild was shot and killed this weekend in Houston, Texas.
While the world knows him as Snootie Wild, to Memphians, he is just LePreston Porter, a beloved rapper who made it out of the Bluff City.
A woman told Houston Police Department that her car was stuck in a ditch, and multiple people tried to help her. She said the rapper then walked up to her and pointed a gun at her before she fled the scene on foot.
According to Houston Police, the woman also said she heard gunshots as she ran away, but did not know Porter was shot. She then called police for help.
Porter was taken to the hospital in critical condition where he later died from his injuries.
HPD said they are looking for suspects who fled the scene in a dark-colored sedan.
Leon Porter is his cousin and former manager who says Snootie Wild’s death has broken the whole family down.
“He was working on music and everything,” Leon Porter said. “The family was behind him, everybody was behind him and pushing him and this happens. It was so tragic.”
According to a report in the Houston Chronicle, the 36-year-old rapper was shot after talking to three people who left the scene after firing a single shot. Porter said his cousin did not deserve this.
“It’s very important to get justice for him,” he said. “Just everybody wants justice for him because he didn’t do anything to deserve this. I don’t think nobody deserves to die.”
The death of Snootie Wild comes just over three months after Memphis rapper Young Dolph was shot and killed at Makeda’s Cookies, adding to the pain that the community is already facing.
Snootie Wild was well known for his 2014 hit “Yayo” and now joins a growing list of artists killed due to gun violence. It is a trend his family believes needs to be addressed.
“It’s so crazy that the music and rap industry has come to this,” Porter said. “The young people are dying so fast. The older guys that are in the music industry need to reach out and embrace the younger ones.”
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to call HPD Homicide Division at (713)-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at (713)-222-TIPS.