In what now will be seen as eerily prophetic, a famed Mexican musician was shot and killed Saturday after having spent his final hours re-assuring fans that earlier reports of his death were false.
Responding to a series of previous reports, Sergio "El Shaka" Vega told entertainment website La Oreja earlier Saturday, "It's happened to me for years now. Someone tells a radio station or a newspaper I've killed, or suffered an accident."
Just hours later, he was gunned down by unknown assailants while driving his red Cadillac, according to reports. With shots to the head and chest, Vega -- who had been making his way to Sinaloa state, where he'd been scheduled to perform -- lost control of his vehicle and crashed.
The 40-year-old singer, who had only recently upped his personal security, was best known for a series of "narcocorridos" -- songs with lyrics that celebrate Mexico's drug cartel culture. According to BBC reports, at least seven other Grupero (or Mexican folk) performers, including Sergio Gomex of the band K-Paz de la Sierra, have been killed in the past three years, the target of rival drug barons.
During his Saturday interview, Vega said Grupero musicians were worried, but that he had entrusted himself to God.
As news of Vega's death broke, the star's longtime manager Ana Luisa Gomez wrote on Twitter,, according to the BBC, "My best friend is already in heaven, there is not a circus Shaka shaka is with God. "