An up-and-coming rapper was found dead in the trunk of his friend’s car this weekend after a devastating crash. Brian Trotter — known by his stage name Ken Won’t Stop — was first reported missing on Oct. 17. On Sunday, Miami-Dade police discovered him in the trunk of a crashed car several states away.
According to a report by Too Fab, Trotter hailed from Virginia and was a rising talent in the rap music scene. He was last seen alive on Oct. 17, when his friend Robert Deupree Avery Coltrain picked him up from his father’s house in Triangle, Virginia. Over a week later, police responded to the scene of a crash on the Palmetto Expressway in Florida to find Coltrain’s silver Acura totaled. Before they towed the car, Coltrain asked to remove his belongings from the back seat, when police noticed a foul odor coming from the trunk. Inside, they found the 25-year-old’s body “wrapped in a piece of fabric and in an advanced stage of decomposition.“
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An autopsy found that Trotter had been shot multiple times, but police were puzzled as their investigation showed that he and Coltrain had been friends for a decade. The two played sports together in high school, and Coltrain supported his friend’s music career, even as he pursued his own.
Police arrested Coltrain and charged him with second-degree murder and illegal transport of human remains. This alleged murder’s motive remains mysterious, but Trotter’s father said he knew something strange was going on when Coltrain picked Trotter up on the day of his disappearance.
“I heard a knock on the door. It was Rob. He was very reluctant to talk to me. I noticed he was acting really strange,” he told The Miami Herald. “Usually, Rob comes in the house. This time, he was real distant and nervous and antsy.”
When Trotter did not return home and did not answer their calls, the family began calling Coltrain. They said that he gave them conflicting stories, raising even more suspicion around him. He first claimed that he dropped Trotter off in Washington, D.C., and later that another friend had picked him up. The two were supposedly heading into the city to “take pictures,” which the family assumed were for their music projects.
“It is with heavy hearts that we tell you all that Brian was found deceased. We are grateful for your love and support over the last 9 days. Your concern for Brian has lifted us up and is a testament to the light he shined on every one who knew him,” Trotter’s family wrote on Facebook. “In the coming days we ask for your thoughts and prayers and for privacy as we grieve, and as the police thoroughly investigate Brian’s death. Please honor Brian’s memory by celebrating his life, light, and music. Justice for Brian.”
