Correctional Training Facility (CTF) officials confirmed the death of Jaime Brugada Valdez, a rapper known by his stage name MoneySign Suede, on April 25.
“At approximately 9:55 p.m. on April 25, correctional officers responded when Valdez was not accounted for in his cell after a regular institutional count,” CTF wrote in a statement. Valdez’ death is being investigated as a homicide.
“During a search he was found unresponsive in another area of the housing unit with injuries consistent with a homicide,” they wrote. “Staff quickly initiated life-saving measures and summoned emergency services to transport Valdez to an on-site medical facility for treatment, where he was pronounced deceased at 10:00 pm.”
Up-and-coming Los Angeles rapper MoneySign Suede was stabbed to death in a California prison … cutting his life short as his career was catching steam. https://t.co/EETQERwdVz
— TMZ (@TMZ) April 26, 2023
Measures have been taken to preserve the scene for further investigation.
“Officials have limited movement at the institution to facilitate the investigation being conducted by the CTF Investigative Services Unit, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office and the Monterey County Coroner,” they said.
Valdez was sentenced to two years, eight months in prison December 22, 2022 “for possession/owning firearm by felon or addict as a second-striker and a one-year, fourth-month sentence for possession/owning firearm with conviction of a violent felony, to be served concurrently to the first conviction,” according to CTF’s statement. (RELATED: Cash App Founder Stabbed To Death In San Francisco)
The rapper’s attorney, Nicholas Rosenberg, said the rapper was stabbed to death in the prison shower, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“He was a very popular guy, very mild-mannered. People loved him,” Rosenberg said, according to The Los Angeles Times.