Virginia: A teen rapper accidentally killed himself while filming a video on social media after he pointed a gun at his head and pulled the trigger. According to a report by the New York Post, the 17-year-old rapper was found dead in Suffolk, Virginia on May 15, the police informed, saying he died by an "accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound" to the head.
While the police did not disclose the name of the deceased teen, the teen was identified as the Suffolk-based rapper Rylo Huncho as per separate footage circulating on social media, who was seen singing into a camera while dancing with a pistol with a green laser sight. The boy appeared to switch off the weapon’s safety and point it at his head, when a gunshot rang out and he lurched violently to the side as the camera dropped.
A GoFundMe campaign was set up the next day for Huncho's grieving mother. "He was her only son! She was a single parent but took care of her son the best she could," said a cousin of the rapper. “Suicide/accidental was the cause of his death we are still trying to figure out why. But anything I mean anything can help her at this time of need,” the cousin further wrote.
The GoFundMe has a goal of reaching $15,000 and has raised over $2,800, thanks to help from others, according to WKRC. The teenager's full name is Raleigh Freeman III, as per other reports. A friend, who says the boy went by Railey, appeared to confirm his death on Facebook, according to the Daily Mail.
'And to get a text saying he passed away is heartbreaking and to hear the mean things y’all are saying about Railey is so wrong on every level please god give his mother the strength to deal with the devastating pain she’s in,' wrote Twin Porter. Huncho's Instagram and TikTok videos often contain many of his raps containing violent lyrics, as well as smoking marijuana.
Gun culture has been an issue of hot debate in the United States due to its impact on children and teenagers, particularly so when school shootings in America are notoriously high as people have easy access to weapons. A recent report by Pew Research Institute showed that the number of children and teens killed by gunfire has increased 50 per cent between 2019 and 2021.
The gun death rate among children and teens – a measure that adjusts for changes in the nation’s population – rose from 2.4 fatalities per 100,000 minor residents in 2019 to 3.5 per 100,000 two years later, a 46 per cent increase. Homicide was the largest single category of gun deaths among children and teens in 2021, accounting for 60 per cent of the total that year.
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