An Atlanta rapper was killed Wednesday in a fiery crash on I-285 in south Fulton County, police said.
Carlos "Shawty Lo" Walker, the artist known for the hit "Dey Know," died in an accident on the I-285 southbound ramp to Cascade Road. He was a member of the Atlanta rap group D4L, who scored a hit with "Laffy Taffy."
The crash happened about 2:20 a.m. and temporarily blocked the ramp to Cascade Road.
After initially describing the crash as a hit-and-run, “it has been confirmed now that it was a single car accident,” Fulton police spokeswoman Cpl. Maureen Smith said.
“The driver, 40 year old Carlos Walker, lost control of his vehicle, a 2016 Audi, leaving the roadway and striking a tree, causing the vehicle to overturn and catch fire.”
Shawty Lo was ejected from the Audi and pronounced dead on the scene, Smith said.
Two women in the car were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Just before the deadly wreck, Shawty Lo was at the Blue Flame on Harwell Road. He referenced the Atlanta strip club early Wednesday in several posts on his Instagram page.
On social media, celebrities and friends expressed their condolences.
"Dear God, take care of my brother," D4L member Lefabian "Fabo" Williams wrote in a Twitter post. "#BankheadlegendShawty The realest ever created."
Rapper Future said: "legends never die…Shawty Lo Forever."
Milton Swift, the Shawty Lo’s videographer and chef, went to the crash site to see where his friend died.
A copy of rapper’s “Put Some Respek On It” CD was on the side of the road. Swift said he talked to Shawty Lo on Tuesday.
“We just wrapped up a video dedication to his father called ‘Letter to My Father,’” Swift said. “We just buried him two days ago, and now we got to deal with this right here.”
Swift called the rapper his brother and said he gave him his first shot in the music industry.
“This guy was loved by his city,” Swift said. “He loved life. He loved people. He loved his family. He loved all his kids.”
Shawty Lo made news in 2013 when the Oxygen television network announced plans for a special about his blended family, which includes 11 children with 10 women. After calls for a boycott and online petitions, the special entitled "All My Babies' Mamas" was scrapped before it even aired.
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