San Francisco police arrested a Hayward man Friday in connection with the fatal shooting of Richmond rapper Curnal.
Lamont Williams, 49, was taken into custody in Hayward and booked into San Francisco County Jail #1 on murder charges.
The arrest comes nearly two weeks after Curnal was gunned down just after 2 A.M. on February 9 on Harrison Street in San Francisco’s Rincon Hill neighborhood.
The shooting happened hours after the Super Bowl ended. Police found Curnal suffering from gunshot wounds by the side of the road, and he was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Curnal, 31, was a Solano County resident who built a following in Richmond’s Hip-Hop scene.
He gained recognition through his music and interviews, including a 2018 appearance on Thizzler TV, where he discussed his experiences with police brutality and his vision for bringing unity to Bay Area music.
“I just want to show everybody like a different way,” Curnal said in the Thizzler interview. “I’m just trying to lead the way me and T Mack and a few other people trying to lead the way.”
The rapper talked about how his brother’s 13-year prison sentence when he was young changed his perspective on life and motivated him to pursue music as an alternative to street life.
Curnal wanted to inspire younger people in Richmond to see beyond their immediate surroundings and build something bigger.
The rapper’s death adds to what has been a particularly violent start to 2026 in San Francisco.
The city has recorded six homicides in the first seven weeks of the year, compared to just one homicide during the same period last year. The increase represents a significant jump in violent crime for a city that saw historic lows in homicides during 2025.
Police have not released details about what led to the shooting or whether Williams and Curnal knew each other. The investigation remains active.
