Troy Ave and the Irving Plaza incident from last year left his bodyguard, Ronald “Edgar” McPhatter shot dead in the midst of a violent spree that broke out. The Brooklyn rapper enacted a scholarship in McPhatter’s name, which the family has struck down while accusing Ave of using the death for street credibility.
DNAInfo exclusively reports:
Ronald “Edgar” McPhatter’s family recently asked that his name be removed from a $2,000 annual scholarship for graduating student athletes created by Troy Ave at New Utrecht High School, saying they don’t want anything to do with the rapper, who launched it last year in the wake of a shooting at Irving Plaza that killed his friend and bodyguard.
“We hold him responsible for the death of our brother,” said Jamie Albert, McPhatter’s sister. “My family is not trying to stop kids from getting money, but we don’t want him to use our brother as a publicity stunt. We didn’t get a call, none of us were aware of it until we saw it in the news.
“We’ve done nothing to him, but he’s exploited our family and this tragedy in such a negative way,” she added. “He used our brother as a human bulletproof vest. Instead of apologizing, he bashes us and he disrespects and he talks down on us. We’ve been too gracious about some of the things that happened to our little brother.”
The family added that Troy Ave’s insistence on using McPhatter’s death in songs and mentioning himself as “New Pac” further solidifies why they want distance between themselves and the artist.
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Photo: screen cap
