Photo:ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty ImagesThe man who wasfound dead inside a barrelthat washed up on Malibu Lagoon State Beach in California on July 31 had been fatally shot.The County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s office identified the man as 32-year-old Javonnta Marshann Murphy and listed his cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head, according to the office’swebsite.Murphy’s death is listed as a homicide, though investigators with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office still have not given any other information on what might have led to his death.TheLos Angeles Timeswas the first to report the news.Officials stand next to a barrel where a body was discovered in Malibu Lagoon State Beach, California.ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty ImagesPatrick Murphy, a family friend of the victim’s,told the outletthat Murphy had grown up with four brothers and his mother in South Los Angeles and had been pursuing a career in rap music.“He was a good kid, good person. He didn’t gang-bang. What happened to him, I just don’t understand,” he said.On Aug. 1, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Departmentannouncedthat a lifeguard on Malibu beach had noticed a 55-gallon plastic barrel floating in the lagoon and retrieved it. When he opened the barrel, he found a naked, dead male inside and alerted police.The hills of Malibu are seen behind a barrel under a blue tarp where a body was discovered in Malibu Lagoon State Beach.ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty ImagesPolice pronounced the victim dead at the scene and launched an investigation into the circumstances of his death and how the barrel got into the lagoon.“At about 8 p.m., there’s a high tide here and there’s a possibility that the container could have come in from the ocean and then got stuck in the lagoon — but we don’t know,” Lt. Hugo Reynaga of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s homicide bureau said, perAssociated Press.Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.Reynaga also noted that Murphy’s death may have happened pretty close to when the barrel was found.“From what I did see it didn’t look to me like it was decomposed or had been there a long time,” Reynaga said, per AP.
Photo:ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
The man who wasfound dead inside a barrelthat washed up on Malibu Lagoon State Beach in California on July 31 had been fatally shot.The County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s office identified the man as 32-year-old Javonnta Marshann Murphy and listed his cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head, according to the office’swebsite.Murphy’s death is listed as a homicide, though investigators with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office still have not given any other information on what might have led to his death.TheLos Angeles Timeswas the first to report the news.Officials stand next to a barrel where a body was discovered in Malibu Lagoon State Beach, California.ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty ImagesPatrick Murphy, a family friend of the victim’s,told the outletthat Murphy had grown up with four brothers and his mother in South Los Angeles and had been pursuing a career in rap music.“He was a good kid, good person. He didn’t gang-bang. What happened to him, I just don’t understand,” he said.On Aug. 1, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Departmentannouncedthat a lifeguard on Malibu beach had noticed a 55-gallon plastic barrel floating in the lagoon and retrieved it. When he opened the barrel, he found a naked, dead male inside and alerted police.The hills of Malibu are seen behind a barrel under a blue tarp where a body was discovered in Malibu Lagoon State Beach.ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty ImagesPolice pronounced the victim dead at the scene and launched an investigation into the circumstances of his death and how the barrel got into the lagoon.“At about 8 p.m., there’s a high tide here and there’s a possibility that the container could have come in from the ocean and then got stuck in the lagoon — but we don’t know,” Lt. Hugo Reynaga of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s homicide bureau said, perAssociated Press.Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.Reynaga also noted that Murphy’s death may have happened pretty close to when the barrel was found.“From what I did see it didn’t look to me like it was decomposed or had been there a long time,” Reynaga said, per AP.
The man who wasfound dead inside a barrelthat washed up on Malibu Lagoon State Beach in California on July 31 had been fatally shot.
The County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s office identified the man as 32-year-old Javonnta Marshann Murphy and listed his cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head, according to the office’swebsite.
Murphy’s death is listed as a homicide, though investigators with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office still have not given any other information on what might have led to his death.
TheLos Angeles Timeswas the first to report the news.
Officials stand next to a barrel where a body was discovered in Malibu Lagoon State Beach, California.ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
Patrick Murphy, a family friend of the victim’s,told the outletthat Murphy had grown up with four brothers and his mother in South Los Angeles and had been pursuing a career in rap music.
“He was a good kid, good person. He didn’t gang-bang. What happened to him, I just don’t understand,” he said.
On Aug. 1, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Departmentannouncedthat a lifeguard on Malibu beach had noticed a 55-gallon plastic barrel floating in the lagoon and retrieved it. When he opened the barrel, he found a naked, dead male inside and alerted police.
The hills of Malibu are seen behind a barrel under a blue tarp where a body was discovered in Malibu Lagoon State Beach.ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
Police pronounced the victim dead at the scene and launched an investigation into the circumstances of his death and how the barrel got into the lagoon.
“At about 8 p.m., there’s a high tide here and there’s a possibility that the container could have come in from the ocean and then got stuck in the lagoon — but we don’t know,” Lt. Hugo Reynaga of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s homicide bureau said, perAssociated Press.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
Reynaga also noted that Murphy’s death may have happened pretty close to when the barrel was found.
“From what I did see it didn’t look to me like it was decomposed or had been there a long time,” Reynaga said, per AP.
source: people.com
