Was rapper NBA YoungBoy found dead in his jail cell? No, that's not true. The claim was made without any documentary evidence or eyewitness proof to support it. The Atlantic Records artist, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, is alive and remains in custody in the St. Martin Parish Correctional Center in Louisiana, the St. Martin Parish sheriff's office confirmed to Lead Stories on May 20, 2021.
The claim appeared as a post (archived here) where it was published on Facebook on May 19, 2021. It opened:
Rapper found dead in his jail cell
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Thu May 20 17:39:29 2021 UTC)
The Facebook post claimed:
the worlds biggest artist NBA YoungBoy who's real name is Kentrell DeShawn golden was found dead in his cell earlier today. The 21-year-old Baton Rouge based rapper, born as Kentrell DeSean Gaulden, is being held in the St. Martin Parish Correctional Denter on multiple gun charges. Police say around 3 PM they discovered Kentrell layed out on the floor."
"That information is inaccurate," Capt. Ginny Higgins, public affairs commander, St. Martin Parish sheriff's office told Lead Stories via email on May 20, 2021. The jail website showed Gaulden still incarcerated as of May 20, 2021 1:30:55 p.m. Central Time, a day after the claim of his death was posted.
He was arrested in March 2021 in Los Angeles on a Louisiana warrant, and taken into FBI custody when he fled from police following a traffic stop, according to Baton Rouge's WAFB. He was transferred to Louisiana that month.
NBA YoungBoy and 15 other individuals were arrested in September 2020 on drug and weapons charges while filming a music video in Baton Rouge, WBRZ reported. He was wanted on an outstanding warrant from that arrest when he was taken into custody in Los Angeles.
In April, 2021, a federal judge ordered Gaulden to remain in jail without bond until his trial, which was scheduled to begin in June of 2021.
