Man Fatally Shot Inside Palmdale McDonald's Identified As Popular Gangsta Rapper
PALMDALE (CBSLA.com) — The man fatally shot Thursday inside a McDonald's in Palmdale has been identified as gangsta rapper Big Paybacc.
The rapper, whose real name is Habeeb Ameer Zekajj, was reportedly eating lunch when someone came into the restaurant and shot him once.
Sheriff's homicide detectives responded just before 12:30 p.m. to the restaurant in the 37200 block of 47th Street East, officials said.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
CBS2's Juan Fernandez reported from the scene where officials said the shooting was not random.
Fernandez said about 15 people were inside the restaurant at the time of the murder.
"There was no altercation that they [witnesses] saw. This guy just walked in through one door, shot him and left out another door. So it looked like something personal. He had something against this individual. It wasn't like he shot up the McDonald's. He just shot him and left," said LA County Sheriff's Department Lt. John Corina.
The suspect fled on foot.
On Thursday evening, Fernandez spoke to Big Paybacc's grief-stricken girlfriend.
"I just knew it," said Jessica Jefferson, "I drove by and saw his truck."
Choking back tears she said, "I had just seen him. He left my house to come here."
Jefferson is having trouble processing how her boyfriend was murdered.
"For them to be that bold to run up to someone in a McDonald's in daylight, in front of people, kids you know, and to just take some kind of vengeance on somebody, it's, it's inhumane," Jefferson said.
Jefferson told Fernandez that Zekajj had just started renting the house in Palmdale (he formerly lived in the Valley) and the two had planned to move in together.
She said Zekajj leaves behind three children.
"Everybody loves him," she said, "everybody loves him, and he's a good rapper, and he has so many followers, and people who stand behind him. He really is a good, solid person."
