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Update 11/21: A D.C. man, Cinquan Louis Blakney, was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the murder of D.C. rapper Tristan Sellers outside a Virginia studio, Prince Williams County Police said in a press release. Blakney, 43, was charged with murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony. He was apprehended by members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force at an apartment in Greenbelt, Maryland. Blakney is in custody in Maryland, according to the press release.

Original: 

D.C. rapper Tristan Sellers, known as Slim Tristan, was fatally shot early Monday morning outside of a recording studio in Woodbridge, Virginia.

Sellers was 32 years old. He was killed in an apparent conflict outside of DMV Studios, a recording studio in the area, according to the police account.

Officers arrived at the scene of the shooting just after 1 a.m. on Monday and found Sellers in the parking area. He was unresponsive and suffering from a gunshot wound, per the Prince William County Police Department.

The Washington Post was the first outlet to name Sellers as the victim of the shooting. He was pronounced dead on the scene, and police haven’t made any arrests in the case.

In a Facebook post, Lisa Swanson-Canty, who says in the post that Sellers was her son, shared details about a campaign to raise money to cover the rapper’s funeral service and support his three children. The family is selling $25 t-shirts and accepting donations through Cash App.

“It’s time to celebrate the life of a Real Live Legend,” Swanson-Canty wrote in the post, in which she also encouraged supporters to change their profile pictures to Sellers’ album cover. “Today my son Slim Tristan is free!!” she wrote in another post.

Messages of condolences and support from people who knew Sellers or his music began pouring in on social media in the hours after Sellers’ death. “It has been announced that Early DC Rap Legend #SlimTristan has passed away !!! Deepest condolences to the Family And Friends,” posted a popular area account called DMV Hoodz and News.

In 2017, Sellers tweeted about his own shock at losing people he knew to violence: “All I see on my TL is RIP smh. Tomorrow truly isn’t promised,” he wrote.

Until recently, Sellers lived with his grandmother Carrie Coleman in Southeast D.C., per FOX 5. Coleman got a call about his death early on Monday. “My heart just started pounding in my chest,” she told the outlet. “I said, ‘Oh my Lord, what in the world is going on.’”

Coleman told FOX 5 that she doesn’t know why anyone would have gone after Sellers.

Sharece Crawford, who calls Sellers her brother in a post, wrote, “My brother Tristan Sellers leaves behind [two daughters, a son] a mom, and a village who loved him dearly right here in our community. I remember the days when we didn’t think we would make it this far. Now this.”

This post has been updated to accurately reflect the number of children Sellers’ leaves behind.

Filed Under: Slim Tristan, Tristan Sellers,