Rapper Wavy Navy Pooh Gunned Down Near Florida Zoo In Front Of Two Children

A Miami-based rap artist was shot to death in the presence of two young children, police say.

Miami-Dade police identified 27-year-old Shandler Antoine Beaubien as the victim of a shooting last Friday, according to CBS 4 Miami. The victim, known as rapper Wavy Navy Pooh, was driving a Toyota Camry near Zoo Miami with a woman and two children in the vehicle when an unidentified shooter opened fire.

Passenger Yvette N’Bushe Ward-Brown, 25, and the two male children, ages 5 and 11, were unharmed in the attack, according to a police news release. It was not clear whether or not Beaubien was related to Ward-Brown or the boys.

One of the children was celebrating a birthday, according to ABC affiliate WPLG.

“In the front seat, there was a 1-year-old child in a car seat that easily could have been struck by gunfire and taken his life,” said police spokesperson Detective Alvaro Zabaleta.

According to police, the 5-year-old was in the back seat with Ward-Brown when the shooting took place at around 5:31 p.m.

More than 80 shell casings were found on the scene, WPLG reported.

Police have yet to make an arrest but said the suspect drove a grey four-door Lexus.

“The victim, in this case, was at the intersection of 152 Street and 127th Avenue, getting ready to make a right to go eastbound on 152 Street,” said Zabaleta, according to CBS 4. “When an unknown vehicle, a Lexus, approached him from the driver’s side and opened fire and then fled westbound.”

It was not clear whether the ambush was a targeted attack or the result of road rage.

Various social media outlets associated with the rapper responded to the news, including a family statement posted to the victim’s Instagram page.

“To the world, he was ‘Wavy Navy Pooh’ or ‘Wavy’ – the artist, rapper, and ‘hood poet,’ with the no-nonsense Teflon persona,” the statement read. “But to those who knew him best, he was a loyal family man and friend, an advocate for the voiceless, and a philanthropist who would give his last dime to see a smile on a child’s face.”

The musician, best known for his song “M.I.A.M.I. (Murder Is A Major Issue),” survived a shooting back in May 2020, according to the Miami Herald. A shooter shot Beaubien in the leg and thigh as the victim drove his car on the 3100 block of Northwest 88th Street. Beaubien claimed he fired back in self-defense.

“M.I.A.M.I (Murder Is A Major Issue)” has garnered more than 250,000 views on Youtube, showing the rapper waving a firearm in his hand and the depiction of a murder scene.

Wavy Navy Pooh was described as an up-and-comer who wore his heart on his sleeve with “vivid and hard-hitting tracks that chronicle the harsh realities of his upbringing in one of Miami’s most dangerous districts,” according to his label, Quality Control.

“Hip hop inspired me because I always saw a way out for people like myself coming from nothing,” the rapper added. “I want to be a legend when it’s all said and done.”

Police ask that anyone with information contact them at 1-305-471-TIPS (8477) or 1-866-471-8477 or leave a tip with Crime Stoppers Miami.