New Orleans female rapper violently murdered On a December day in 2010, the vibrant bounce music scene in New Orleans was silenced by the brutal killing of 28-year-old Renetta Lowe, a female artist known to her fans as Magnolia Shorty. Just before 12:30 p.m. on December 20th, Lowe and a companion, 25-year-old Jerome “Man Man” Hampton, were leaving her apartment in a gated community. As she slowed her white Chevy Malibu for a speed bump, a white Ford Crown Victoria with five men inside ambushed them.
The attack was sudden and overwhelmingly violent. One man emerged from the car and began firing, causing Lowe to crash into a fence in the 6300 block of Bridgehampton Drive.
The assault intensified as four of the occupants from the Crown Victoria surrounded Lowe's car, unleashing a barrage of bullets. In a horrifying display of brutality, one of the assailants climbed onto the roof of her vehicle and fired directly through the sunroof, ensuring there would be no survivors. Both Renetta Lowe and Jerome Hampton were struck multiple times in the head and body and were pronounced dead at the scene. The sheer ferocity of the attack was shocking, with reports indicating Lowe had been shot over 25 times. Due to the extreme violence, the New Orleans FBI Gang Task Force took the lead in the investigation.
For years, the case remained a painful open wound for the community. It wasn’t until a break in a multi-year sting operation targeting heroin trafficking in New Orleans that answers began to surface. A member of the notorious 39ers gang, Gregory “Rabbit” Stewart, was brought in by investigators and became a crucial confidential informant. Stewart confessed his involvement and implicated four other members of the 39ers gang in the murders of Lowe and Hampton. His testimony was pivotal, leading to the indictment of McCoy “Rat” Walker, Terrioues “T-Red” Owney, Tyrone 'T-Bone' Knockum, and Rico 'Freaky' Jackson by a grand jury in August 2014.
The subsequent legal proceedings brought a measure of justice for the senseless killings. Stewart, in exchange for his cooperation, agreed to a plea deal on heroin trafficking charges. His detailed testimony on the witness stand helped prosecutors build a powerful case against his former associates. In February 2017, a jury found ten men associated with the “39ers” gang guilty of various offenses, with seven convicted of conspiracy to use weapons to further drug trafficking and violent crimes. Specifically for the murders of Renetta Lowe and Jerome Hampton, McCoy “Rat” Walker and Terrioues “T-Red” Owney were found guilty. Seven years after the brutal ambush, a U.S. District Judge sentenced both Walker and Owney to life in prison, closing a long and violent chapter for the city of New Orleans.
