Drake and J. Cole spent Wednesday, February 28, at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York for the second of back-to-back shows for their co-headlining It’s All A Blur Tour – Big As the What? However, a part of Drake is still in St. Louis, Missouri, where two fans were struck by a car and killed while leaving a Big As The What? concert on February 13. The victims were mother and daughter, 42-year-old Laticha Bracero and 21-year-old Alyssa Cordova.
Per XXL Magazine, Drake paused Wednesday’s show in Buffalo to deliver a broader message about gratitude in the victims’ honor.
“You never know what somebody else’s reality will be when they walk out of this building,” Drake told the audience in XXL‘s fan-taken video. “So, for this moment that all of us are together — all 18,000 people — what I want to do [is] I want you to turn to somebody that you do not know. Not somebody that you came with. I want you to turn to somebody that you do not know, I want you to look them in the eyes, and I want you to prove that you’re grateful for your life. I want you to take five seconds out of your day to make somebody else’s day. Just show them some love because you never know what comes next. Just some f*ckin’ love tonight in Buffalo, New York.”
Drake continued, “I think one of the most important things in life is the idea that you have two choices. You can either wake up every day, and you can be a piece of sh*t, or you can wake up every day and be a decent person, so I appreciate y’all being good for [inaudible]. Rest in peace to that young mother and her child.”
Drake performs in Buffalo, N.Y. and says, “Rest in peace,” to mother and daughter that were killed after leaving his show in St. Louis earlier this month. pic.twitter.com/FTdCK31io5
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) February 28, 2024
According to KTVI FOX 2 in St. Louis, the alleged driver has been identified as 22-year-old Monte Henderson, who has been out on bond and subsequently “ordered to undergo house arrest and wear a GPS ankle monitor.”
The local news outlet also reported the alleged sequence of events, as excerpted below.
“Henderson was charged with two counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter and two counts of armed criminal action in the deaths of Laticha Bracero, 42, and Alyssa Cordova, 21.
The crash happened around 12:30 a.m. on February 14 at North 18th and Olive streets, near city police headquarters, in Downtown West as Bracero and Cordova were leaving a Drake concert.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s probable cause statement claims that Henderson was speeding in excess of 70 miles per hour in a 2020 Jeep Cherokee, driving eastbound on Olive Street. At some point, Henderson allegedly blew through a red light and sideswiped the front end of a 2017 Mitsubishi Outlander, which was traveling north on 18th Street. The Cherokee spun out and struck Bracero and Cordova, who were using the crosswalk on Olive.”