Lil Phat Dead: 19-Year-Old Rapper Melvin Vernill III Found Murdered in Car [Video]

Rapper Lil Phat has been found shot dead yesterday. The 19-year-old rapper was found murdered at 6.40pm in a car parked on a street near Northside Hospital Women's Center in Atlanta, Georgia. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but was pronounced dead when he got there. The whole area was reportedly in a lock-down for two hours last night. According to MediaTakeOut.com, he was shot 20 times.

Atlanta Journal Constitutional reported that witnesses saw at least one suspect running from the scene where Lil Phat was shot. Police are currently reviewing video surveillance cameras and are already searching for "two males seen running from the location at the time of the shooting." One suspect was reportedly short, wearing a red short, and one tall dressed in black.

Lil Phat was also known as rapper Melvin Vernell III. Police suspect that the shooting was not random . The rapper worked with Trill ENT, a record label created by Turk and Mel in Louisiana. The label also produces music for Lil Boosies, Webbie, Foxx, Lil Trill, DaDe, and Mouse & Shell . Rapper Webbie tweeted: "RIP TO MY LIL BROTHER PHAT! LIFE SO F... UP! TRILL4LIFE" He continued: "you stupid b****** think death a joke until you loose somebody you love."