STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

Rae Sremmurd's Mother Says Brother Suspected Of Murdering The Duo's Stepfather Was Off His Meds

The 19-year-old suffers from schizoaffective disorder.

Tragedy struck home for hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd after news broke earlier this week that the brothers of the group, Slim Jxmmi (Aaquil Iben) and Swae Lee (Khalif Malik), lost their stepfather, Floyd Sullivan, to a fatal shooting in their Mississippi hometown.

  • Sullivan was reportedly shot multiple times on Monday (Jan. 7) and was dead when police arrived to the scene. In a devastating irony, their younger brother, Michael Sullivan, was sent to the hospital for psychiatric evaluation and later arrested in connection to the incident. 

  • While Swae and Jxmmi have continued to mourn the death of their stepfather in private, TMZ shares that they have spoken to the three brothers’ mother, Bernadette Walker. According to the outlet, Bernadette said that Michael suffers from a mental illness known as Schizoaffective disorder, which can cause symptoms, such as hallucinations, delusions and mood disorders, mania and depression.

     

  • Bernadette says that Michael was residing with her in Atlanta until November of 2019, at which point the 19-year-old had reportedly stopped taking his prescribed medication as required. She stated that he began having frequent angry outbursts. Due to this, Michael went to live with his father, Floyd, in Tupelo. 

    Though Bernadette additionally told TMZ that she didn’t know could have prompted Michael to allegedly kill his father, she speculates that he is off his medication again and might’ve gotten into an argument with his father. She also pointed to a broken mental health system in the U.S., noting that once Michael turned 18, she could no longer require him to take his medication anymore, which she says he needs in order to stay calm. 

     

  • Yesterday, Swae Lee took to Twitter to pray for “compassion” in light of the tragic news. However, Rae Sremmurd has not publicly commented on their stepfather’s death. BET continues to send its love, light and prayers to Rae Sremmurd and their loved ones during this difficult time.

     

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