Ulysses “Chris” Gissendanner III, the stepbrother of young rapper Chief Keef, was fatally shot in the back of the head on the Far South Side of Chicago last week.
Gissendanner, 19, was at least the fourth aspiring rapper to be shot and killed in Chicago since last September, according to DNA Info .
The aspiring rapper modeled his alter ego, “YPN Boomtown” after his stepbrother’s.
Alfonzo Cozart said his stepson’s death made him worry about his own son, whose real name is Keith Cozart, and whom he no longer speaks to. Cozart also said, however, that he didn’t want the fact that Gissendanner is related to Chief Keef to distract from the tragedy of his death.
“He just graduated high school, and was in college and had a job. He was a positive person,” Cozart said. “I’m not trying to get publicity of Chief Keef being my son. I want you to focus on Ulysses. He’s the one that’s gone.”
Gissendanner was shot Wednesday as he was sitting in a car after visiting his uncle in West Pullman. He died at Roseland Hospital, authorities said.
Gissendanner stayed in Chicago after his family moved to Arkansas just before Christmas to attend Richard J. Daley College and pursue his music career. His mother, Aridecy Tate, returned to Chicago to identify her son’s body and visit the spot where he was killed.
“Somebody shot my son in the back of his head, and now he’s dead,” she said. “I wanted to see where my son passed.”
Gissendanner’s funeral services are still being formalized. We extend our condolences to his family and friends.
[Pictured: Ulysses ‘Chris’ Gissendanner, right]
