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Crime

Cover-Up Over Killing of Gay Rapper Kevin Fret?

Fret

Charges over corruption, extortion, and a sex tape rile the unsolved case.

Nbroverman
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Rising gay rapper Kevin Fret was killed in a hail of bullets while riding his motorcycle in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in January 2019 -- now, nearly four years later, a prosecutor says her supervisor told her to end her investigation into the killing of the 24-year-old.

Betzaida Quinones Rodriguez claims then-chief prosecutor of the Puerto Rico Justice Department, Olga Castellon, shut down the Fret investigation just three months after the killing, NBC News reports. Rodriguez lays blame on not only Castellon, but the U.S. territory's secretary of justice at the time, Wanda Vazquez. Rodriguez says Castellon and Vazquez were in constant communication over the high-profile case.

Fret was an up-and-coming out rapper; his debut single, "Soy Asi," made traction in the music industry with the music video garnering nearly 6 million views.

Before his killing, Fret was accused of extortion by another musician, reggaeton star Jan Carlos Ozuna, known professionally as Ozuna. The latter musician claimed Fret received money in exchange for not releasing a sex tape of Ozuna's, allegedly made when he was a minor. Fret's mother, Hilda Rodriguez, claims Ozuna and his manager have something to do with Fret's death; she also says her son was not an extortionist. Ozuna denies having anything to do with Fret's killing.

Meanwhile, Hilda Rodriguez heralded the recent claims by Quinones Rodriguez about the case.

"I knew this could come to light," Rodriguez said in a Spanish-language radio interview. "The two of them [Ozuna and his manager] have to pay for what they did."

It's not clear if Puerto Rican officials plan to reopen the case.

This is a developing story...

Nbroverman
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Neal Broverman

Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.
Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.