Ervin McKinness, left (via Twitter)
Ervin McKinness, a 21-year-old aspiring rapper, tweeted about driving drunk minutes before dying in a one-car crash that killed four others and himself.
McKinness, tweeted on September 2, at 1:19am: “Driving tweeting sipping the cup f**k yolo I’m turning it up.”
“YOLO” is an acronym for “You Only Live Once.” The phrase was made popular by the rapper Drake, who used “YOLO” in his song featuring Lil Wayne “The Motto.” The tweets have since been deleted on the account but still can be found on other media.
McKinness died in the car crash at 1:40 a.m., in Ontario, Calif., at Creeksdide Drive and Haven Avenue when the 2005 Nissan Sentra ran a red light, lost control and slammed into a wall, according to the Sun. Alongside McKinness, Dylan George, 20, and Marquell Bogan, 23, both of Ontario; Jonathan Watson, 21, of San Bernardino; and JaJuan Bennett, 23, of Rancho Cucamonga were also killed in the crash.
All were pronounced dead at the scene except Bogan, who was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, according to CBS News.
Police reported that despite McKinness tweets, it was actually Watson who was driving the car and not McKinness, according to the San Bernardino County Sun. “They’re certainly looking at that because it will be a vital part of the investigation, but it’s too early to give an opinion as to whether it (driving drunk) was a cause or contributed to the crash,” Ontario Police Sgt. David McBride told the Sun.
