CLOSE

Fans of slain Florida rapper Jahseh Onfroy, known as XXXTentacion lined up outside the BB&T Center in mourning, offering final words (June 27).
AP

Slain rapper XXXTentacion in an undated photo.(Photo: AP)

New details are surfacing in the domestic abuse case of late rapper XXXTentacion. 

The emerging South Florida rap star, whose real name was Jahseh Onfroy, was gunned down outside a motorcycle dealership during an apparent robbery in Deerfield Beach, Florida, on June 18, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office told USA TODAY. He was only 20. 

At the time of his death, XXXTentacion (pronounced: ex-ex-ex-ten-ta-see-YAWN) was awaiting trial on charges including domestic battery, aggravated battery and false imprisonment against his pregnant girlfriend stemming from 2016. (The rapper pleaded not guilty.)

However, XXXTentacion apparently confesses to the crimes in a newly released secret – and profanity-laden – recording, that Pitchfork says it received from the Miami-Dade County state attorney’s office.  

“I put my source of happiness in another person, which was a mistake initially, right? But she fell through on every occasion until now. Until I started (expletive) her up bruh,” a person on the tape, identified by Pitchfork as XXXTentacion, says on the tape.

He continues: “I started (expletive) her up because she made one mistake. And from there, the whole cycle went down. Now she’s scared. That girl is scared for her life. Which I understand.”

The family of XXXTentacion accepted his award for best new artist at the BET Hip Hop Awards 2018 on Oct. 6. (Photo: GASTON DE CARDENAS, AFP/Getty Images)

Pitchfork says the Miami-Dade County state attorney’s office told them the prosecution and the rapper’s defense team considered the recording a confession, but the case was closed after XXXTentacion’s death.

In addition to threatening to “kill” his ex-girlfriend, the person on the tape apparently admits to other crimes. 

“I’m on (Miami) New Times for stabbing, how many people they put in the news? They said three, it was eight,” he boasted, referencing a 2016 incident in Deerfield Beach that Pitchfork reports is still unsolved. He noted the acts of violence solidified his former girlfriend’s fear in him: “She’s seen this (expletive)… She know.”

USA TODAY reached out to XXXTentacion’s former attorney and the Miami-Dade County state attorney’s office for comment.

XXXTentacion began to gain mainstream attention in early 2017 after uploading his single, “Look at Me!” to Soundcloud. His album “17” landed at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, and in March, XXXTentacion’s album “?” debuted at No. 1. 

But the Florida native was a controversial figure, and had many run-ins with the law. 

According to the Miami New Times, his ex Geneva Ayala’s depositions “detail a pattern of regular, torturous abuse that summer, with daily verbal attacks and physical incidents every three or four days.”

According to Ayala’s statement, he beat her at times, choked her, broke clothes hangers on her legs, threatened to chop off her hair or cut out her tongue, pressed knives or scissors to her face, and held her head under water in their bathroom while promising to drown her.

Contributing: Andrea Mandell

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

Last SlideNext Slide

 

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2018/10/23/badtentacion-admits-domestic-violence-pregnant-girlfriend-tape/1745682002/