Crime & Safety
Update: Sandy Springs Man in Fatal Shooting Identified as Rapper; Internet Buzzes Over Shooting
Police identified a man shot multiple times near the Northside Hospital Women's Center as "Lil Phat," a rap musician from Sandy Springs.
Police have identified 19-year old Melvin Vernell III, known as music rapper "Lil Phat" of Corbin Lake Court in Sandy Springs, as the victim found shot Thursday evening in a parking deck adjacent to Northside Hospital Women's Center.
Vernell had been shot multiple times and was found in a parked car. He was taken to Northside Hospital where he was pronounced dead, a short time later.
Police are seeking two men who witnesses saw flee the scene towards Johnson Ferry Road, said Sandy Springs Police Captain Steve Rose. "One is tall, one is short," Rose said.
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Police are investigating a motive in the shooting and looking into a tie to a funeral shooting, on Thursday in Dekalb.
Meanwhile, news of the young rapper's death spread across the Internet. HipHopDX.com reports that Vernell's name came up in an April 2011 shooting in Tuscaloosa, Alabama following his concert.
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