On Tuesday, Ozuna’s lawyer Antonio M. Sagardía addressed the rumors that have been swirling around his client’s involvement in the death of queer Puerto Rican trapero Kevin Fret, who was fatally shot on his motorcycle on January 10 in Santurce, Puerto Rico. Accusations that the Aura singer was involved in Fret’s murder emerged this week after El Vocero reported that Ozuna filed a complaint against Fret with the FBI. Primera Hora writes that in the summer of 2017, Fret used social media to threaten Ozuna with the release of a compromising video. Ozuna allegedly paid Fret $50,000, but Sargardía said that Ozuna later went to the FBI in Miami to denounce the extortion.
Sagardía addressed the rumors on Tuesday. “One thing is blackmail and another is murder,” said to WAPA.tv in a video reposted by urbano outlet Rapetón. “Ozuna had nothing to do with this death.”
“The police should clarify the case that they’re investigating so that people don’t speculate,” Sargardía continued.
On Wednesday, Ozuna released a statement about the sex tape, which the vocalist appeared in when he was a minor (there are conflicting reports about his exact age, but Ozuna’s attorney told WAPA.tv he was 16). Ozuna’s age at the time of filming qualifies the clip as child pornography, and precludes the artist’s ability to have given his consent to appear. Ozuna called the video an “error of the past” in the statement released via his manager Vicente Saavedra. “I made a mistake that was caused by ignorance. Today I not only regret what happened, I condemn it.”
Sagardía also told reporters that the video in question showed Ozuna performing a solo sex act and that a doctored version including other men was making the rounds. “Fret said there was a video — not a video of a [gay] relationship,” the lawyer told WAPA.tv. “It’s a video in which Ozuna — when he was underage — was doing something intimate alone. That’s it.” Sagardía said he did not know who had recorded the video, and implied that Fret had also extorted other urbano artists. “For me, [the contents of the video] have no importance,” said Sargardía. “The investigation is not about a video, it’s about a murder.”
Puerto Rican law enforcement did not release more details on the investigation of Fret’s death. “We’re still in the process of getting information from his email accounts and are not in a position to summon anyone until we get all the information that we have to analyze,” Lieutenant Colonel Rolando Trinidad commented to Primera Hora. Trinidad leads the investigative division of the San Juan police.
A recent crime wave has hit Puerto Rico. Earlier this month, Bad Bunny and Residente visited governor Ricardo Rosselló to discuss the problem. Though the visit took place shortly after the death of Fret, it is not clear if the artists mentioned their fellow emcee in the discussion.
This is a developing story and Remezcla will update this post if more information becomes available.