SOLEDAD, CA—Rapper MoneySign Suede – whose legal name is Jaime Brugada Valdez, 22, of Huntington Park, California – was found fatally stabbed in a shower at Soledad State Prison on Tuesday, April 25. Prison officials are investigating his death as a homicide, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation released in a statement.
At approximately 9:55 p.m., during a routine institutional count, correctional officers responded when Valdez was not accounted for in his cell. During their search, Valdez was found unresponsive in the shower area with “injuries consistent with a homicide,” officials said. Staff quickly administered life-saving measures and transported Valdez to an on-site medical facility for treatment, where he was pronounced dead at 10 p.m.
The details of his injuries were not immediately disclosed. Valdez’s attorney, Nicolas Rosenberg, told the Los Angeles Times that he was stabbed in the neck.
Valdez was serving two years and eight months in prison after being sentenced on two charges of being a convicted felon in possession of a gun by Riverside County on December 22, 2022.
An East Los Angeles native and a rising star in the rap community, Valdez signed to Atlantic Records in 2021 and collaborated with artists such as Ty Dolla $ign and MadeinTYO. He frequently rapped about living in poverty and openly expressed the desire to escape gang culture (he was reportedly linked to the Bloods gang) and cultivated a positive influence on his young community.
“I was always proud of you, your music & how you treat your team/family & enjoyed every time we linked up,” rapper MadeinTYO posted in honor of Valdez on Instagram. “I admired how you worked so hard before you got locked up..you really made me think…this guy got this many videos done…finished a project…on top of all the other features people got from you…with that type of pressure on your back turning yourself in before Christmas…at only 22…love you forever kid” MadeinTYO continued.
An investigation is being conducted by the CTF Investigative Services Unit, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office and the Monterey County Coroner. The Monterey County Coroner will determine Brugada’s official cause of death.
