In the early morning hours of September 10, 2017, the life of 22-year-old Garrett Burton, a male known in the Baton Rouge rap scene as Gee Money, was tragically cut short. He was discovered around 1:30 a.m. in a parking lot on Dallas Drive, having sustained fatal gunshot wounds. Burton was leaving a studio session where he had been recording music when he was killed at the scene.
The investigation into Burton's death pointed toward an ongoing and escalating feud between two rival rap
groups. Authorities believed the homicide was connected to a dispute between Burton's Top Boy Gorilla group and another faction associated with fellow Baton Rouge rapper NBA YoungBoy. Tensions had reportedly intensified in the days leading up to the shooting, fueled by social media posts exchanged between the two artists. A song released by Gee Money, which allegedly contained derogatory lyrics about NBA YoungBoy's sister, is believed to have further inflamed the conflict.
In June 2019, a significant development occurred in the case when Baton Rouge police arrested 24-year-old Deandre Demarcus Fields in connection with the murder. Fields, an associate of NBA YoungBoy, was initially charged with second-degree murder. Investigators used phone records to place Fields in Baton Rouge at the time of the shooting, contradicting his initial statements that he was not in the city.
Ultimately, in January 2023, Deandre Fields accepted a plea deal. He pleaded to a lesser charge of accessory to the murder. As part of the agreement, Fields maintained that while he was present in the vehicle with the perpetrator, he was not the one who fired the weapon that killed Garrett Burton. He was sentenced to serve five years in prison for his role in the events that led to the rapper's death.
