Popular American rapper from Brooklyn, Bobby Shmurda fell victim to a viral internet death hoax on Saturday after a satire website falsely reported that he was stabbed to death inside the jail where he is currently being held.
The fake news went viral after infamous satirical site Huzlers.com cooked up the story saying Shmurda's cell mate Antwan Mauldin, 29, stabbed him to death with a hidden pocket knife.
"Although authorities are not sure what caused Mauldin to murder Bobby, it is believed Bobby Shmurda's song lyrics and rap personality might have played a role," the fake report stated.
The hoax news by Huzlers has gained traction in social media with over 14,000 Facebook shares and over 300 twitter posts as of early Saturday. "He was alive a week ago....Bobby Shmurda Stabbed to death in jail by cell mate," said 'Karl along' on Twitter.
"Hell....noooo say it ant so," cried another person with the profile 'FLIGHT 4RM DA 806'.
"Oh God??" exclaimed another Twitter member sharing the link to the Huzler.com article.
Shmurda, 20, is best known for his song "Hot N*gga" released in July 2014. The song debuted the "shmoney dance," which went viral after its music video was released. The song has so far peaked at the position of 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has been remixed and performed by numerous other artists including Lil' Kim, French Montana, Juicy J and Gunplay.
The New York City Police arrested the rapper on 17 December 2014, after they accused him of being a ringleader of a Crips gang known as GS9, which shot indiscriminately into public crowds while also murdering a member of a rival gang. He was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, weapons possessions, and reckless endangerment. The 15-person, 69-count indictment had included his brother Javese and fellow GS9 label-mate Rowdy Rebel.
The aforementioned fake news site posts hoax news articles with the disclaimer: "Huzlers.com is a combination of real shocking news and satire news to keep its visitors in a state of disbelief."
In the most recent case, the same site was responsible for triggering worldwide frenzy with the claim that Earth was going to experience six days of total darkness in December.