A friend of DJ Megatron told police Monday the popular BET host was on his way to buy marijuana early Sunday morning when he was shot to death across the street from his Staten Island home.
The friend said he and DJ Megatron were talking on the phone around 2 a.m. when the line went dead, likely because the radio and TV personality had been shot. The friend told police he did not hear gunshots.
Police confirmed the 32-year-old DJ Megatron had been walking when he was shot once in the chest, but a motive has not yet been identified. The entertainer's cell phone was found nearby.
DJ Megatron's parents, who live in Fayetteville, are flying up to New York on Tuesday morning hoping to get answers from police, said first cousin Lisa Davis Alexander, 44, of Dunwoody, who will be accompanying them.
"There's so many questions left unanswered," Alexander told the AJC. No arrests have been made in the shooting.
DJ Megatron, born Corey McGriff, built a career at hip-hop and R&B radio stations from Philadelphia to Boston before landing on BET as host of "What's Good." Alexander said her cousin, who deejayed for Atlanta rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy, was a staunch advocate against gun violence.
"Nothing -- no phone, no money -- was taken from him," she said. But McGriff, known for his amiable personality, didn't seem to have any enemies. "That's what makes this so hard to understand," Alexander said.
McGriff's 4-year-old son, watching from the doorway of the family's brownstone, saw three men approach his father at a bodega across the street, but it's unclear if he witnessed the shooting, Alexander said.
McGriff's older brother Marlon, 34, broke the news to their parents, Alexander said.
Rising to the on-air ranks after starting as an intern, DJ Megatron began his career at New York's WKRS-FM, better known as Kiss FM, where deejays remembered him on the air and online Sunday. BET's "106 and Park" plans a tribute to its slain contributor Monday at 6 p.m.
"He will truly be missed," the network said in a statement extending condolences to his family.
The deejay, sometimes known as Mega or Mega McGriff, also appeared in movies, including 2005's "State Property 2," starring Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash and rappers Beanie Sigel and N.O.R.E., formerly Noreaga.
A father of three, DJ Megatron also devoted time to charitable events on Staten Island, his manager said.
--The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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