Kevin Fret has died at the age of just 24 after being shot on the streets of Puerto Rico.
Gay rapper Kevin Fret has died after being shot 8 times while he was riding a motorbike in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was just 24.
Fret was reportedly riding his motorcycle when he was shot at around 5:30 AM. He was taken to hospital after his shooting where he was pronounced dead.
The BBC reports that an investigation is underway.
His murder is the 22nd in Puerto Rico this year already.
Fret’s best-known song was “Soy Asi” which managed to rack up half a million views on YouTube, after its release in 2018. He is described as Latin Trap music’s first openly gay recording artist.
His latest single, “Diferente” featuring Mike Duran clocked up over 1.8 million hits.
Fret’s manager Eduardo Rodriguez confirmed his death saying,
“There are no words that describe the feeling we have and the pain that causes us to know that a person with so many dreams has to go.
“We must all unite in these difficult times, and ask for much peace for our beloved Puerto Rico.”
It is not known if Fret was targetted specifically or if his killing was an act of random violence or whether there is a hate-crime element to his death.
He would have been 25 on the 2nd Feb.
Is Puerto Rico LGBT+ friendly?
Puerto Rico has a good recent history with regards to LGBT+ rights. Gay people in the country are afforded many rights including, marriage, adoption there are discrimination laws to protect LGBT+ people.
Puerto Rico is known to have a high crime rate and something it has been struggling with for decades.
It has a homicide rate of 30.6 per 100,000 people. In the UK the homicide rate is 1.20 per 100,000 people.