RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Dozens gather at Nevin Park for a celebration of life for Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old rapper in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. Butcher was fatally shot across the street from Nevin Park on Sept. 18. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Dozens gather at Nevin Park for a celebration of life for Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old rapper in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. Butcher was fatally shot across the street from Nevin Park on Sept. 18. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Katheryn “Tanky,” the five-year girlfriend of Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old Richmond rapper who was shot and killed in September, wears a mask referencing one of Tay's nicknames and her role in his life as “His Forty Seven” at Nevin Park in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Nicole Phelps, an extended sister of Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old Richmond rapper who was shot and killed in September, points to a shirt she wore to honor Butcher at Nevin Park in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Dozens gather at Nevin Park for a celebration of life for Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old rapper in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. Butcher was fatally shot across the street from Nevin Park on Sept. 18. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Dozens gather at Nevin Park for a celebration of life for Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old rapper in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. Butcher was fatally shot across the street from Nevin Park on Sept. 18. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Dozens gather at Nevin Park for a celebration of life for Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old rapper in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. Butcher was fatally shot across the street from Nevin Park on Sept. 18. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Dozens gather at Nevin Park for a celebration of life for Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old rapper in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. Butcher was fatally shot across the street from Nevin Park on Sept. 18. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Dozens gather at Nevin Park for a celebration of life for Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old rapper in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. Butcher was fatally shot across the street from Nevin Park on Sept. 18. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Dozens gather at Nevin Park for a celebration of life for Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old rapper in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. Butcher was fatally shot across the street from Nevin Park on Sept. 18. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Dozens gather at Nevin Park for a celebration of life for Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old rapper in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. Butcher was fatally shot across the street from Nevin Park on Sept. 18. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Dozens gather at Nevin Park for a celebration of life for Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old rapper in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. Butcher was fatally shot across the street from Nevin Park on Sept. 18. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: (Left) Laz Tha Boy, a Richmond artist and years-long friend of Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old Richmond rapper who was shot and killed in September, poses for a documentarian at a public funeral at Nevin Park in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Laz Tha Boy, a Richmond artist and years-long friend of Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old Richmond rapper who was shot and killed in September, shows off a photo of him and Butcher ironed onto the back of his jacket at Nevin Park in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Dozens gather at Nevin Park for a celebration of life for Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old rapper in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. Butcher was fatally shot across the street from Nevin Park on Sept. 18. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Dozens gather at Nevin Park for a celebration of life for Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old rapper in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. Butcher was fatally shot across the street from Nevin Park on Sept. 18. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Lil Noonie, a Richmond-based rapper, performs a concert during a celebration of life for Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old rapper, in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. Butcher was fatally shot across the street from Nevin Park on Sept. 18. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: A motocross rider who provided only his Instagram handle (@RIPlildave_jkidd), performs stunts as dozens gather at Nevin Park for a celebration of life for Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: A Pinole-based motocross rider who provided only his Instagram handle (@Lilaloneboi), performs stunts as dozens gather at Nevin Park for a celebration of life for Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Dozens gather at Nevin Park for a celebration of life for Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old rapper in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. Butcher was fatally shot across the street from Nevin Park on Sept. 18. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Dozens gather at Nevin Park for a celebration of life for Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old rapper in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. Butcher was fatally shot across the street from Nevin Park on Sept. 18. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Sharon Alexander, the mother of Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old rapper killed September 8, holds a photo of her son at Nevin Park in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Sharon Alexander, the mother of Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, a 29-year-old rapper killed September 8, holds a photo of her son at Nevin Park in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: Sharon Alexander, the mother of Lamonta "Tay Way" Butcher, hugs Eugene Jr. Williams, her father, at Nevin Park in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - October 9: (Left) Eugene Jr. Williams holds a photo of his grandson Lamonta “Tay Way” Butcher, as he poses for a photo with his daughter Sharon Alexander at Nevin Park in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, October 9, 2020. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group
RICHMOND — Sharon Alexander, the mother of Lamonta “TaY WaY” Butcher, rode down Fourth Street and into Nevin Park on Friday afternoon in a white carriage stowing a casket and being pulled by two horses as she was surrounded by friends, relatives and residents who gathered to celebrate the life of the late Richmond rapper.
Passers-by honked as the horses made their way past the corner of Fourth Street and MacDonald Avenue, where Alexander’s son was shot and killed last month and where her brother was gunned down almost 15 years ago.
Less than a month after Butcher’s slaying, his siblings and his girlfriend organized a public funeral at the park across the street. The event drew several dozen residents and doubled as a block party — the kind the so-called “Rich City Host” would have preferred.
As some children hopped between two bounce houses and a snow cone station and others rode bikes and practiced tricks in the afternoon, parents and neighbors danced and sang on a concert stage, and shared food, laughs and memories from 2 p.m. until after midnight.
Some of those who grew up with Butcher or helped raise him told this news organization about the kind of man he was and how they hope others remember him:
Sharon Alexander, Butcher’s mother:
“He was a loner really. He loved his music, his grandmama, his momma, his sisters and brothers. He went to church. … He was an entertainer, he was about having fun, not no killing and shooting and all that. He wasn’t into all that. He didn’t carry guns. He was just different from this,” Alexander said in reference to the violence that took Butcher’s life.
Her favorite song by TaY WaY remains “South Side Richmond,” the first song her son produced.
“I’m gonna miss his smile and him always saying, ‘Whatchu doing?’ Always asking me what I’m doing and always telling me he loved me. I’m going to miss that. … I miss him dearly. That was my baby, I miss him dearly.”
Katheryn, a.k.a. “Tanky,” Butcher’s girlfriend for five years:
“We want to remember him as he was: An entertainer, a lovable person, very unique, creative, funny, firm — he stood firm on everything he believed. … We want his legacy to continue. Go check his music out on iTunes, Soundcloud. We want to keep him alive. Go download his albums.”
Bertha Thomas, Butcher’s great aunt:
“He was a beautiful young man. He loved his music and he loved family. … Ever since he was a kid he was into music.”
Nicole Phelps, Butcher’s extended sister:
“Foremost, he was a people person but he wasn’t a people person. Very to himself, but he showed a lot of love. Rough time growing up, we’ve been through some of everything. He was an amazing young man, with amazing potential — a very kind-hearted person. He was about his music. He took it and he did something with it, and I’m glad that he got to experience the things that he did experience before God called him home. We forever got him and his music, and for him, we’re going to continue to stay positive. … He was the light of a room.”
Laz Tha Boy, a childhood friend and Richmond artist:
“The way to remember him is as he was, and that was great — he was a Rich City legend. So remember him in greatness, because that’s what he was and that’s what he will always be.”
Fox AKA Thug Pimpin’, the first person to put TaY WaY on a stage at Club 101 in San Rafael:
“He was just a young shot here that could make it. He got to put on for his city, taking the whole city up on his shoulder and pushing it. Out in Richmond, it’s hard to come up in music. There’s so many people trying to down you. He didn’t let that stop him, he kept pushing, got one of the number one songs in the Bay Area. That was a blessing for him. It’s a sad thing that he didn’t get to see his dream now, that now that he’s not here anymore he’s become famous. We get to see what we really had.”
