Ronald “Banga” McPhatter allegedly had plans of breaking all ties with Troy Ave.
Next month will mark one year since Troy Ave’s good friend and bodyguard, Ronald “Banga” McPhatter was shot and killed at Irving Plaza. As the anniversary of his death approaches, his family has finally broken their silence and given their side of the story.
In an new interview with DNAinfo, McPhatter’s sister, Jamie Albert, admits that she and her family blame Troy Ave for her brother’s untimely death, “We hold him responsible for the death of our brother. My family is not trying to stop kids from getting money, but we don’t want him to use our brother as a publicity stunt. We didn’t get a call, none of us were aware of it until we saw it in the news.”
She added, “We’ve done nothing to him, but he’s exploited our family and this tragedy in such a negative way. He used our brother as a human bulletproof vest. Instead of apologizing, he bashes us and he disrespects and he talks down on us. We’ve been too gracious about some of the things that happened to our little brother.”
Albert went on to explain that her family feel’s that Troy Ave is using her brother’s death to enhance his street credibility. On top of name dropping McPhatter’s name in a number of songs and music videos, Troy has also used his late friend’s name for branding purposes – a scholarship fund in McPhatter’s name that was created without his family’s approval. They are now trying to have his name removed from the fund.
Apparently, before McPhatter was killed, he had been looking to distance himself from Troy Ave over an argument that they had about money. Albert says that Troy only paid McPhatter $200 a week to be his bodyguard and a number of other services.
“He told us he was not dealing with Troy Ave no more. The day he died, I was on the phone with Edgar for two hours, and twice Troy Ave called and my brother sent the calls to voicemail.”
What is most painful to McPhatter’s family is that the day he was killed, he had no intentions of working. While on duty as a bodyguard for Troy, McPhatter would always wear black. However, he was wearing white that day because he had planned on going boating.
Meanwhile, Troy Ave is gearing up for the release of his “Dope Boy Troy Vol. 2: NuPac” project.
