Naked body found stuffed inside a sealed barrel that washed up in Malibu ID’d as local rap artist
The body of the man who was found stuffed in a sealed barrel at Malibu Lagoon State Beach has been identified as a local singer-songwriter and rap artist.
The LA County medical examiner identified the body as 32-year-old Javonnta Murphy, of Sylmar, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Murphy’s body was found naked inside the barrel, but his cause of death has not been released. It is unclear how long he was in the barrel.
Murphy’s social media pages indicated that he was a local singer-songwriter and hip-hop artist. He often posted videos of him jamming out and singing to his own music in his car.
He also shared a YouTube link to what appears to be a band’s page, Tank & Booq, which only had three songs posted.
Many fans took to the comment section of his latest Instagram post, which was posted seven weeks ago, where he posted a video of him drinking from a large bottle of wine, with the caption: “When you’ve been drinking more alcohol for the past five days…”
“Rest in peace, young man,” one fan wrote. “My heart was breaking for you and your family last night when I read the news article. I do not know you, but you did not deserve to die.”
Another wrote: “Rest in peace…you didn’t deserve what happened to you. I didn’t know you, but I know nobody deserves this.”
Many simply wrote: “RIP.”
The barrel Murphy’s body was found in was pulled onto the lagoon on Sunday by a maintenance worker who had to paddle out to it using a kayak. The worker did not open the barrel.
Around 10 a.m. on Monday, a lifeguard pulled the barrel out of the water again and opened it, discovering the musician’s body shoved inside, LA County Sheriff Lt. Hugo Reynaga said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The lifeguard had opened the barrel because it had a suspicious weight, a source close to the investigation told the Los Angeles Times.
Former Malibu Mayor Jefferson Wagner said he noticed the barrel on Sunday but had “thought it was a toxic waste container when I saw it,” he told the Times.
“This is not what happens in Malibu,” he told the outlet. “This is not a common occurrence. I mean, bodies in a barrel is just sad.”
Investigators are looking into examining security footage in the area to hopefully find the culprit.