LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A 21-year-old up-and-coming rapper was fatally shot Monday afternoon at a popular mall in Los Angeles.


Rap artist Dolla arrives at the Soul Train Music Awards in Pasadena, California, on March 10, 2007.

Dolla, whose real name is Roderick Anthony Burton II, was shot in the head about 3:10 p.m. at the Beverly Center, his publicist said.

Police later detained a person at the Los Angeles International Airport, said city police spokeswoman Karen Raynar.

Further details were not immediately available about the shooting.

Dolla, who was based in Atlanta, Georgia, was in Los Angeles recording his debut album.

He caught the attention of multiplatinium R&B singer Akon when the then-12-year-old Dolla was performing with friends at showcases around Atlanta.

The two collaborated on Dolla's first single, "Who the F--- Is That?" which also featured another high-profile singer, T-Pain.

Another Dolla song, "Feelin' Myself," appeared on the soundtrack to the 2006 movie "Step Up."

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KTLA: Local coverage of the slaying
According to his MySpace page, Dolla was born in Chicago, Illinois. His twin sister died at birth because of complications from an enlarged heart.

The family moved to Atlanta after Dolla's father committed suicide while he, then 5, and another sister watched from their parents' bed, the Web page said.

Dolla began composing rhymes in elementary school and decided to pursue a career in music.

Funeral services, which will be held in Atlanta, will be announced later, publicist Sue Vannasing said.

never heard of him.

thepope2the9s said:

Young up and coming cat from ATL. Who gets shot and killed at the Beverly Center? Wow.....
[Edited 5/19/09 8:31am]

RIP Dolla....so tragic.

Graycap23 said:

guess I heard of him now.....

ColAngus said:

Why even post that bullshit? It took more energy to type that mess than to just keep the negativity to your gatdamn self.

gatdamn ?

ColAngus said:

that's how they say it (goddamn) in the south...

when are young black men going to stop killing one another? this is some bullshit. he got shot in the head so there was no surviving that. i mean can brothas just whoop ass and call it a day? gotta pull out the 9s n shit. stoopid!!!!

DesireeNevermind said:

Looks like the shooter followed him, I'm guessing from Atlanta, cuz he got caught at the airport.

SCNDLS said:

them YBMs got the hatred bad in ATL. shooting, robbing, raping on a glare. utter nonsense

SCNDLS said:

Fool is from Atlanta. Amazing.

The Los Angeles Times, citing anonymous police sources, reports the shooting may have stemmed from a fightl at Platinum 21 Adult Entertainment on Piedmont Road in Atlanta.

Joseph Green, who works at the club, said late Tuesday that an LAPD detective interviewed another Platinum 21 employee, “Bull” Shaw, earlier Tuesday regarding a fight at the club. Shaw could not be reached for comment.

“I know there wasn’t [a fight] May 13,” Green said, disputing the Times report placing Dolla and Berry at the club that night. “But there may have been one the week before.”

Green said he did not know either Burton or Berry, and a Los Angeles Police spokeswoman would neither confirm nor deny the interview with Shaw took place.

The rapper’s family is also looking for answers.

“As far as we know [Dolla] had no idea it was coming,” said Burton’s stepfather, George Viera. He’s been married to Dolla’s mother, Dawnee Robinson Viera, for three years.

The rapper’s family, including sisters Divinity Burton, 22, and Sadenicole Burton, 20, gathered at the Viera’s southwest Atlanta home Tuesday to plan Dolla’s funeral, scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at Murray Brothers Funeral Home. A memorial service, also at Murray Brothers, will be held at 6 p.m., Friday, Viera said.

They learned of Burton’s shooting from his longtime girlfriend, Crystal Jackson, a Los Angeles native and student at Clark Atlanta University. Dolla was planning a birthday party for Jackson, whom he had dated for at least three years, Viera said.

“They [Dolla, Atlanta rapper D. J. Shabbazz and cousin Will Robinson, stage name Scrapp DeLeon] had just come out of P.F. Chang’s,” Viera said. “They heard gunfire and started running.”

Burton was shot in the back, his stepfather said: “The bullet pierced his heart.”

Dolla was like a son, Viera said, and nothing like the stereotype often attached to rappers. “It was a character he played,” he said. “To us he was just Roddy. When he was home, you couldn’t pry him away. Loved to play with his nieces and nephews, loved to play on the Wii.”

Just a baby

Lawyer: Mall tape will show Dolla a threat to his client


The lawyer for the alleged killer of Atlanta rapper Dolla said surveillance footage from the mall where Monday’s shooting occurred will prove his client’s innocence.

Los Angeles attorney Howard Price said Aubrey Berry, of Snellville, was acting in self-defense when he shot Dolla repeatedly with a 9 mm handgun.

• Atlanta and Fulton County news “He believed [Dolla] was armed,” said Price, who alleges Berry was followed to the scene of the shooting by the victim. According to Los Angeles police, Dolla, born Roderick Anthony Burton II, was unarmed. Price insists it’s coincidental that the two men flew to the same city and ate at the same restaurant (P.F. Chang’s China Bistro) on the same date and time.

“He [Berry] was there [at P.F. Chang’s] first,” said Price, who has not yet seen the surveillance videos. Berry, a music promoter, was dining with associates when he encountered Dolla in the restaurant’s bathroom, the lawyer said.

There, “a threat was made” by the rapper, Price said. Berry’s associates told him he should leave because of Dolla’s affiliation with the Crips street gang, he said.

As his client waited for his car in the Beverly Center’s valet area, Dolla and his cousin, Wilbert Robinson, and another friend, Sidiq Abawi, confronted Berry, Price said.

“He [Berry] believed he was in danger,” the lawyer said.

Berry responded with a flurry of bullets, hitting Dolla multiple times in the back.

The shooting stems from an altercation roughly two weeks earlier at an Atlanta strip club, Platinum 21, Price said.

“Mr. Berry inadvertently bumped into a woman he didn’t know,” the lawyer said. The woman’s identity is unknown. “It was a stupid, silly incident that should’ve never escalated to this point.”

Dolla’s stepfather, George Viera, said the rapper was in Los Angeles planning a birthday party for his longtime girlfriend, Crystal Jackson. In a case full of alleged coincidences, here’s another: Jackson, Viera said, attends Clark Atlanta University. Berry recently graduated from Clark, according to a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney prosecuting the case.