2 Detroit rappers and friend killed in gang related violence - Armani Kelly, Montoya Givens and Dante Wicker

Missing rappers found dead in Detroit were killed in gang-related violence: police

The murders of two Detroit rappers and a friend — all of them found fatally shot in an abandoned apartment complex — are gang-related, police said Friday. The Michigan State Police Depa…

www.nydailynews.com

By Jessica Schladebeck
New York Daily News
Mar 18, 2023 at 4:26 pm

The murders of two Detroit rappers and a friend — all of them found fatally shot in an abandoned apartment complex — are gang-related, police said Friday.

The Michigan State Police Department provided the update in a bid to dispel speculation swirling around their investigation into the slayings of Armani Kelly, Montoya Givens and Dante Wicker.

“We know there are a lot of media/social media rumors about this investigation,” police said. “While we have to keep some things private, we know a couple of things: There is no one in custody for this homicide [and] this homicide was not random and had nothing to due with music or a performance.”

All three men disappeared on Jan. 21, the same night the rappers were forced to cancel a performance at Detroit’s Lounge 31 over equipment issues. Family members reported them missing two days later after they were unable to get in touch with any of the men.


Their bullet-riddled bodies were discovered on Feb. 2 in the basement of an abandoned apartment in Highland Park, a city about 10 minutes outside Detroit. Their remains were hidden beneath piles of debris and construction material.

Kelly, 27, of Oscoda, performed under the alias Marley Whoop. Wicker, 31, of Melvindale, used the stage name B12. Givens was also 31 years old. They all met in prison, the Detroit Free Press reported.

 

[Summer_Breeze]

No arrests in murder of 3 rappers months after they disappeared from Detroit club

It's been nearly three months since three men were seen alive heading for a Detroit club - and more than two months since their remains were found shot to death and frozen in an abandoned building. But the details from Michigan State Police have been limited.

www.fox2detroit.com

By FOX 2 Staff
Published April 13, 2023

DETROIT (FOX 2) - It's been almost three months since Armani Kelly, Montoya Givens, and Dante Wicker were last seen alive in Detroit as they were heading to a rap performance that would eventually be canceled. And it's been over two months since their bodies were found shot to death and frozen in an abandoned Highland Park apartment building. But there has been very little new information released about the case.

<snip>
Michigan State Police is handling the investigation and, in the weeks since their bodies were found, there has been little information coming from that department. FOX 2 reached out to Lt. Mike Shaw for comment on this story and the investigation, specifically if there were any arrests or updates.

"No, nothing new," Shaw said on Wednesday.

In fact, the last time MSP has said anything about the case was on March 17 when MSP said the murders were "gang-related" and their murders had nothing to do with music. At that time, MSP said nobody was in custody and they believed other people knew the details about the murder.

"While we have to keep some things private we know a couple of things: There is no one in custody for this homicide. This homicide was not random and had nothing to due with music or a performance," the statement said.

 

[Summer_Breeze]

The unsolved rap murders that shook Detroit and captivated social media sleuths

Triple terror

www.metrotimes.com

By Eddie B. Allen Jr. on Wed, Jun 21, 2023 at 4:00 am

Admittedly, she was eavesdropping.

Catina Fogle, 50, confesses that the mom in her was concerned about the movements of her adult son, Montoya Givens, whenever he left home. Givens had been released from prison just a few weeks short of a year and, though he seemed determined to stay on a positive track, Fogle kept as close of an eye on him as possible.

“He was loyal to the wrong people,” she says. “His loyalty was the best thing about him.”

Tragically, Fogle’s worries would prove well-founded: Givens, 31, was found dead in an abandoned Detroit-area building days later, along with aspiring rappers Amani (better known as “Armani”) Kelly, 27, and Dante Wicker, 31. The story of their Jan. 21 disappearance and triple-murder drew national attention and sparked significant social media buzz, including speculation by amateur sleuths. In five months authorities have announced no arrests connected to the killings, with Michigan State Police appealing to the public for help with their investigation back in mid-March.

As Fogle listened to Givens from nearby, she heard him debate with himself. She didn’t know much about the invitation her oldest son pondered, but she heard him say, at least, three times, “Naw, I’m not going.”

Then, moments later, he would change his mind again.

“**** it,” she heard Givens say. “I might as well go. I don’t have nothin’ else to do.”

Not long afterward, Givens received a phone call.

“What up doe?” he asked in popular Detroit-ese, meaning, “How you doin’?” or “What’s going on?”

Fogle’s translation from her son’s end of the chat let her know he was leaving his decision to fate. Givens told the caller he would go out with his girlfriend if the caller didn’t arrive to pick him up first.

Fogle wishes his girlfriend had come quicker.

Three roads traveled​

It has been said that Givens, Kelly, and Wicker met in prison, but only Givens and Kelly served at the same facility from August 2017 to March 2022, according to Michigan Department of Corrections records. Kelly had been paroled barely six full months before his disappearance. Of the three men only Wicker had been home from prison for more than a year — since 2015, in fact.

Of the victims’ families and associates, only Fogle agreed to be interviewed by Metro Times.

Kelly, who released rap tracks under the names Marley Whoop and 37 Marley Whoop, apparently was the caller inviting Givens to attend a show at a storefront night spot that doubles as a hookah lounge on Detroit’s east side. In a Facebook video from what’s believed to be the night of the men’s disappearance Kelly tells two other young men there is “no solider dude” than Givens, and that he will be picking Givens up. The posting — while since removed from Kelly’s Facebook page, it has been “screenshot,” excerpted and dissected by social media users thousands of times — shows Kelly video-chatting with the unidentified men, all three of their faces concealed by ski masks.

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Much more at link. ~Summer

 

[Mel70]

Gang related. Imagine that.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Pretty sure they released that it was gang-related a month after it happened. Glad they're working so hard on the case.

Murders of 3 rappers found in Highland Park last year were gang-related, state police say

Nearly a year after the bodies of three rappers were found in a Highland Park apartment building, Michigan State Police have released an update on the case.

www.cbsnews.com

January 24, 2024

State police say they have determined that Armani Kelly, Montoya Givens, and Dante Wicker were killed in a gang-related incident.


In the update from Tuesday, state police say the investigation has generated suspects, but detectives need to conduct more interviews and do more investigative work.

Anyone with any information about this case is asked to call 855-MICH-TIP or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.

Detectives plan to wrap up the investigation within the next month and submit a report to the prosecutor's office for review.