News

The cousin of pop/R&B diva Ashanti, 20-year-old Quinshae Snead, was killed in Johannesburg, South Africa on Saturday when the car she was riding in was hit by a drunk driver.

According to local police, the 17-year-old driver had stolen his mother's car and was driving without a license. He rear-ended the car carrying Snead, causing it to roll over and throwing Snead out of the vehicle and into oncoming traffic. Snead's driver, whose identity was not released, survived the crash, as did the drunk teen.

Snead was driving to Ashanti's hotel to pick up some items for the Grammy-winning singer, who was scheduled to perform in a concert that evening alongside former Fugees singer Lauryn Hill and local female artists. Snead was credited as Ashanti's personal assistant on her most recent album, Concrete Rose, and the two were reportedly quite close.

A distraught Ashanti cancelled her concert appearance that evening and will fly her cousin's body back to the U.S. today (Monday, April 17th).

-- The ARTISTdirect Staff
04.17.06