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Johnny Ca$h, Bay Area Rapper With Ties To Mac Dre Gunned Down

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

Bay Area rapper Johnny "Johnny Ca$h" Castaneda died Thursday (Mar. 29) from a gunshot wound to the head, after being shot multiple times in an apartment complex in Vallejo, CA. According to reports, Ca$h was signed to Mac Dre’s Thizz Entertainment, but joined the label after Mac Dre was gunned down in 2004.While authorities haven’t […]

Bay Area rapper Johnny

"Johnny Ca$h" Castaneda died Thursday (Mar. 29) from a gunshot wound

to the head, after being shot multiple times in an apartment complex in Vallejo,

CA. According

to reports, Ca$h was signed to Mac Dre’s Thizz Entertainment, but joined the label

after Mac Dre was gunned down in 2004.While

authorities haven’t released details of their investigation, Ca$h’s murder is

the second violent incident connected to Mac Dre’s name in the Sereno Village

apartment complex within the past three months.Mario

Espinsosa Matthews and Arthur Appling allegedly shot and killed Eli Issac Griffin

during a botched robbery attempt. The

men are currently standing trial for murdering Griffin.Yesterday

(Mar. 30), a witness testified that she saw Matthews on the day of the shooting

looking drunk and "hyper," wearing a mask of Mac Dre and dancing around

with a gun.

Ca$h’s murder is the latest in a string of violent incidents surrounding Mac Dre.

In 2003,

Sacramento rapper C-Bo, San Francisco rapper Messy Marv and Kansas City based

associate and rapper Anthony "Fat Tone" Watkins were in an SUV that

was shot and struck multiple times.Fat

Tone suffered the most severe injuries, but survived from several gunshot wounds.

One

month later, in Nov. 2004, Mac Dre was killed in a drive-by shooting and crash

in Kansas City. While

a suspect was never arrested for Mac Dre’s death, police believed Fat Tone was

behind the shooting and murder. Six

months after Mac Dre was murdered, both Fat Tone and an associate named Jermaine

"Cowboy" Akins were found murdered in a vacant construction area near

Las Vegas, NV. Fat

Tone’s family members claimed he went to Las Vegas to meet with Bay Area rapper

Andre "Mac Minister" Dow. Mac

Minister had supposedly arranged for Fat Tone to meet with Snoop Dogg, who happened

to be playing in town that evening. Witnesses

also claimed to have seen Mac Minister leaving the hotel with Fat Tone and Cowboy.

Dow

was indicted for the murders of Fat Tone and Cowboy, but he fled, leading to his

profile being showcased on the hit television series America’s Most Wanted.

He

was captured in San Francisco in Mar. 2006 and charged with unlawful flight to

avoid prosecution.