On June 24th 2019, Leroy Phinazee was shot and killed in cold blood around 7pm in Harlem on 137th street on Lenox avenue. At the time of his death Leroy was only 29 yrs young. He was a father, a brother, a son, a friend and a king in the making. Unfortunately his life was cut short of his comings. The crazy part is he was killed only 2 blocks from where his father Big Lee was killed as well his uncle Big L was killed.

As most have heard about his recent demise from local news articles and social media farewell post, most wasn’t informed of his plans and what he had in the works. Leroy was a dedicated father and made it his business to take care of son who is an aspiring basketball player. Leroy did his best to attend every basketball game and take side line pix in support of his son. His son’s future was his main focus. I can recall us having numerous conversations on what we have to do for our kids so they have a better life than had. He wanted the best for his son by any means necessary. We would have debates on how expensive the basketball programs is in Atlanta vs. in New York. this was a topic we talked about on several occasions. .

Aside from the discussions about our kids we also was working on a project titled “Put It On” which is a film based on the life and death of his uncle Lamont Coleman Phinazee better known as the Harlem rap legend Big L. We’ve been working endless nights on the project for about 2 years and just finished the script up a few days before his passing. He was listed as the ex-producer and scheduled to portray his father also named Leroy Phinazee (Big Lee) in the film. This would have been his debut as an actor and as a film producer. During the course of us building the film we went to Los Angeles to rub elbows with the big names in the film industry and we built some great relationships with some great people. He enjoyed the grind. Things was just getting where we wanted them.

Leroy and Daze in Los Angles at The Staples Center

During the time we hit Los Angles we attend the Oscars, then a adult convention event at the Staples Center and a really dope party after the Oscars. We had a ball. I remember having a few drinks and Leroy was like, “Yo bro you good? You know you gotta get it us back to our room right, I ain’t driving out here in LA, my license suspended ”. LOL. I remember driving up the Hollywood hills one early morning and Leroy sat in the back on the passenger side with the window crack half way. He was like “ Yo bro be careful driving on this shit, feels like we about to drive right off. Keep your eyes on the road”. Lol. We laughed at how serious he got the closer we got to the edge. I’m not going to lie, it was scary but it was a beautiful site to see once we got to the top. We all enjoyed the priceless view at the top of Hollywood.

Leroy at the top of the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles 2019

Every body that knew Leroy would tell you, Leroy wasn’t into the night life at all. No drinking no smoking none of it. He always move with direct purpose. When he came to ATL to visit me with his god father James we hit up a few spots. I would take them on set of a Love and Hip-Hop taping where he met a few of the cast members and we would go to my magazine headquarters downtown Atlanta to go over the movie details. This Big L movie was coming along great. A lot of people from the inner circle wasn’t so supportive of the film but Leroy always said “if they ain’t contributing to what we doing then fuck them, make that shit work best way you can. Stop waiting on these niggaz to get involved”. And that’s how we moved on making this project, and that’s how we going to continue to move until it hits theaters.

From right: Daze, Shan, Leroy, James and Rock at the Scrilla Guerillaz Magazine headquarters in Atlanta

Leroy is definitely going to be missed. This is a major lost to the family and friends that loved him however no one compares to the lost and pain his son must be feeling. As far as the film, we going to continue with the project as best as we can. We were making a few adjustments to the completed script the day Leroy was killed. He will definitely be honored in the film. His main thing with this film was to get it done by any and all means necessary and get to the next project. I won’t speak on what vision he had for the next project publicly but he had a lot in the works and with the blessings of the Phinazee family we will be able to bring his vision to life on the big screen. You will forever be in our hearts and we will honor your legacy Lil Lee. Rest In Heaven my friend. - Jesse (Daze) Swindell