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Tupac Shakur's mother, Afeni Shakur, dies at age 69

By Brett Rosner, WSBTV.com
By Brett Rosner, WSBTV.com

MARIN COUNTY, CA — The mother of legendary rapper Tupac Shakur, Afeni Shakur, has died at the age of 69.

The Marin County Sheriff's Department in California confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that Shakur died late Monday night.

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Deputies responded to a report of possible cardiac arrest at 9:34 p.m. at Afeni's home in Sausalto, the sheriff’s office said. She was taken to a local hospital, where she died at 10:28 p.m, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

Afeni, opened the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation in 1997 and the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts in Stone Mountain in 2005. She resided in the area.

The center, which closed recently, offered training to young people in the arts in Atlanta.

Channel 2’s Audrey Washington visited the performing arts center’s new owner who allowed her inside. James Burnett told Washington he spoke with the family.

"They're happy because they know she's in a better place, but they're sad because they lost another icon," Burnett said.

Burnett said he plans to keep some of the Tupac memorabilia around when he turns the space into a play area for children.

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A Tupac Shakur biopic, called '"All Eyez On Me" was being filmed in Atlanta earlier this year. Danai Gurira, from the "Walking Dead" was reportedly playing Afeni in the film.

Tupac Shakur, who died in 1996 at the age of 25, rose to international fame and infamy during the first half of the 1990s. His rap lyrics and the characters he played in popular films ranged from incredibly violent and crass to soft-spoken and introspective.

Shakur achieved record-breaking album sales but also had volatile run-ins with police. He survived a 1994 shooting in the lobby of a Manhattan studio, but was killed two years later in a still-unsolved Las Vegas drive-by shooting.

Cox Media Group

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