US rapper Johnny Castaneda, aka Johnny Ca$h, has died from a gunshot wound to the head, after he was shot multiple times in Vallejo, California last week. The hip hopper was signed to the late Mac Dre's Thizz Entertainment label, and his death is the latest in a series of violent incidents seemingly connected with Mac Dre, aka Andre Hicks, who himself was gunned down in Kansas City back in November 2004.
Police believe that the string of events began with the non-fatal shooting of Anthony 'Fat Tone' Watkins, and it was this incident that led to the death of Mac Dre. Six months later Fat Tone was also dead, his body found in a Las Vegas construction site alongside that of an associate, Jermaine 'Cowboy' Akins. Watkins' family claim that he was in Vegas to meet with another rapper, Andre Dow, aka Mac Minister, and Dow is now set to go on trial for Fat Tone's murder.
Whether it's thought that Castaneda's death is specifically related to all of this is not yet clear, as police have not, as yet, revealed any details of the new case.