Looks like trouble is following Lil' Kim into her 33rd year, or at least the headlines are: A 24-year-old woman, Ingrid Rivera, was found dead last night in a rooftop utility closet of midtown club Spotlight Live, where she attended the rapper's birthday party on Sunday.
It is believed she was "beaten with a blunt object — possibly a champagne bottle — and left for dead." The NY Post reports that Rivera, a JFK ticket agent, was thrown out of the party for being too drunk, something the Daily News elaborates on, saying she "got into a fight with a club manager after he found her drunk in the men's bathroom." Once kicked out Rivera was left alone, her friend Sasha Castillo (who claims she tried to follow her) stayed in the club.
Rivera's mother questions the bouncer's actions, asking why they didn't send her to the hospital instead of kicking her to the curb. They are now suspects, with even Spotlight's "VIP Host" saying: "It wouldn't surprise me if it was the bouncers. A lot of the bouncers, if you give them a hard time, they get really tough and rowdy. They're tough guys. You don't want to mess with them. That's actually a problem at the club."
As for Lil' Kim, she may have very well been gone by the time of the incident. Actress LisaRaye McCoy-Misick told the Times: “When I was there, everything was cool. But we didn’t stay very long. Celebrities never do." Rivera's mother says that her daughter was "wearing a blue dress and silver and blue heels. She was very excited about the rap lady." Early this morning investigators were seen leaving the club with a box labeled "evidence." Earlier this year the club made headlines when a fight spilled out onto the street and one man was killed.
UPDATE: The Daily News is reporting that "Sayed Rahman, a barback at the Spotlight Live club" has confessed to the murder, saying he targeted Rivera because she was visibly drunk when he spotted her on the street. "Promising that he could get her back into the hotspot, he lured her to the roof...possibly trying to rape or rob her. Rahman then hit her in the back of the head and jammed her lifeless body in a rooftop electrical room." Reportedly Rivera had also attempted to give Lil' Kim flowers just before she was killed.
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"found her drunk in the men's bathroom"
classy!
"But we didn’t stay very long. Celebrities never do"
What a prick.
But would bouncers beat on drunken rowdy women? Even most bouncers wouldn't do that. Something stinks
Sasha Castillo sounds like such a good friend. And who is LisaRaye McCoy-Misick?
Let's not forget that it was a bouncer who kidnapped, raped and killed that John Jay grad student a couple of years ago. Without criminal background checks for club employees this sort of thing is bound to happen again.
#4: She's clearly a celebrity. She made a point of enlightening the Times of that fact.
I've done some research...super famous celebrity LisaRaye is married to the chief minister of Turks and Caicos, who is himself being investigated by the FBI for allegedly raping one of LisaRaye's friends this past April
Sasha Castillo sounds like a good friend.
Why do certain parties always end up with someone getting shot/stab/murdered?
Quite a few bouncers are criminals (I'm not kidding), unlicensed and one step away of snapping on someone. It needs to be regulated. This happens all the time.
It needs to be regulated. This happens all the time.
It is regulated, but many clubs and bars do not follow the regulations.
Lisa Raye, as she was once known, is a C-list actress who appeared in Ice Cube's Players Club movie as a stripper. Her late father was a gangster in Chicago, from what I recall.
Spear Chucker, I'm not sure that ALL of certain parties end up that way, but there are certain parties that attract a certain lower-class set of people, similar to a party with rednecks.
Rap music and violence go together. When there is a rapper to be found violence is knocking on the door.
This already sounds like a repeat of the murder of Imette St. Guillen. There are supposed to be laws in place so that criminals don't become bouncers at these clubs, but I think we will find that they haven't been enforced.
this is crazy. i was just @ spotlight 2 wks ago.
mystery solved.
rip ingrid.
The only surprising thing about the update is that the confession came so soon. Sad story and shame on the friend for leaving her in that condition.
"shame on the friend for leaving her in that condition."
All we know is that she went there with a friend. We don't know if the friend had any idea of what "condition" she was later in, or that she had been kicked out of the club.
jaycjay- You may be right, but if you read the full story, the friend says that the bouncers prevented her from following her friend. That sounds like an unlikely story.
"she was drunk when i saw her"
so you told her you could get her into the club.
"yeah..."
but that's not what you had in mind, is it?
"i just took her to the roof for a little fun."
but she didn't want any fun with you, did she?
"it was an accident, i was just trying to get her to calm down."
so you hit her.
"i didn't realize how hard it was, she moved at the last minute"
(thunk! thunk!)
Close this club down. It's nothing but trouble.
Attention ladies: YOU are the person who has been put in charge of your well-being and safety. YOU decide how much you drink, YOU choose where you go, and the company that you keep. There are dangerous people out there, please don't make it any easier for them. Make wise choices.
Its a matter of life and death.
GUILTY. NOW CUT HIS HEAD OFF.
Someone should tell LisaRaye that if you're actually a celebrity, you don't have to tell people you're a celebrity.
This story doesn't make any sense. Lil Kim is ugly. Really ugly. Why would people party with ugly people? It boggles my mind.
Word, Tgirl. Now way you should depend on others to take care of you. It's very sad, and I'm sorry that it happened, but she wasn't taking care of herself. Don't go blaming the friend for Ingrid's mistake.
This seems like a very nice place. The two homicides in the Midtown North precinct have involved incidents in this club. Anyone remember this story in January? http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/01/21/2008-01-21_deadly_brawl_in_times_square.html
The club is a notorious public nuissance and should be shut down and I hope that poor girl's family sues the owner to oblivion over this senseless outrage. if you don't screen your staff or recognize bad behavior early, you are just as culpable as them.
I SMELL LAW & ORDER HERE FOLKS... and if they HURRY UP THEY CAN FILM AT THE CLUB!!!!!
Thank you TGirl for eloquently expressing exactly what a lot of women should be thinking & doing...every summer we hear a story like this: first Imette St Guillen, then Jennifer Moore, now Ingrid Rivera. Women have to learn to balance having fun and taking better care of themselves while out partying, drinking, etc.
And for those of you knocking Sasha Castillo, Ingrid was 24-- old enough to take care of herself and in no need of a babysitter. Yes it's great to have a good friend with you who can have your back, but you also have to accept some responsibility for your own safety as well.
Semi-related "celebrity" update: http://perezhilton.com/2008-08-14-turks
LisaRaye McCoy-Misick - never heard of her - what a loser
This is a very tragic story and it has nothing to do with rap music. A mother has lost her only daughter. First of all, she came to the club with a friend and rule #1 is you always stick together. It seems that Rivera got way too drunk and her friend was caught up in the moment of being at a "celebrity" party and she didn't want to go babysit and have to leave the party. Unfortunately, she is going to have to live with the guilt of not being there for her friend for a long time.