LA Rapper Stabbed To Death In California Prison

Rapper MoneySign Suede passed away Tuesday after being stabbed to death at a California prison. He was 22.

The up-and-coming rapper — real name Jaime Brugada Valdez — was reportedly found in the shower area of the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, California, AP News reported citing a statement from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Though the agency did not reveal further details about his injuries, MoneySign Suede's attorney, Nicholas Rosenberg, told Los Angeles Times that he was believed to have been stabbed in the neck.

An unidentified prisoner also said that he was found in an area of the prison that houses general population prisoners, which was "unusual" because a rapper would usually be placed in the sensitive-needs yard — an area for specific safety fears or for those who have public profiles. It is unclear what profile MoneySign Suede was put under. But he was still in the early stages of his career.

Meanwhile, police officials from the facility told TMZ Hip Hop that the case is currently being investigated as a homicide.

Unnamed sources reportedly said that the "Rewind" rapper was found unresponsive in another area of the prison and was immediately brought to the prison's medical facility, where they administered emergency aid. Despite efforts to save his life, he was pronounced dead around 10 p.m.

TMZ noted that the rapper's death prompted officials to restrict the prisoner movement amid the ongoing investigation conducted alongside the Monterey County District Attorney's Office and the Monterey County Coroner — the division that will determine MoneySign Suede's official cause of death.

Following his tragic death, his rapper friends paid tribute to him via Instagram.

"I f—king love [you] bro. Life's not fair, I'm beyond broken, get [your] rest," "Apologies" rapper Fenix Flexin wrote, while Baby Stone Gorillas said, "Rest up, bro."

MoneySign Suede inked a deal with Atlantic Records in 2021 and released his most recent album "Parkside Baby" under the record label a year later. His most famous hits include "Back To The Bag," which has garnered 7.1 million views on YouTube, "No Love," "She Gon Choose," "Whole Time," "Juice," and "Pistol Packin," among others.

The rapper was sentenced to two years and eight months in Monterey County prison, which houses about 4,000 minimum and medium-security inmates, last December. He faced two charges of being a convicted felon in possession of a gun.