Rap promoter Robert Montanez fatally shot in New Jersey

Thursday, rap promoter Robert Montanez, 31, was fatally shot twice in the chest in the parking lot of the Ringside Bar in New Jersey when a man attempted to rob rapper Capone.

The shooter is believed to have fled from the area. Investigators are looking at surveillance tapes from a number of cameras in the area to determine if they captured any of the events leading to Montanez's death, DeFazio said.

"I love him like a son," said Ringside owner Mario Costa last night.

Police had to disperse an unruly crowd of about 100 people in the parking lot before an ambulance could get to Montanez and take him to the Jersey City Medical Center and into emergency surgery, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said.

Family members said Montanez was revived numerous times on the way to the hospital and he was in intensive care when his heart stopped twice more and doctors said there was nothing they could do. He was pronounced dead just after 6 a.m. Thursday, DeFazio said.

Costa said he is offering a $20,000 reward to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of Montanez's killer.

A second victim, Shea Harvey, 30, of New York City, ran when the gunfire broke out and was shot in the leg from behind, DeFazio said, adding that he was taken to the medical center, treated and released.

Montanez, who spent three years in prison on manslaughter charges, had three small children and worked promoting several rap bands, family members said. He was also road manager for rapper AKON, who was at the Ringside the night he was killed. Montanez was CEO of the Block Records label, family members said.

Robert Montanez's brother, William "Willie" Montanez, 27, died in early November of this year when a car he was riding in slammed into the rear end of a stopped tractor-trailer on Harrison Avenue in Kearny, officials said. The driver, Jose Pichardo, 24, of Reservoir Avenue, Jersey City, was charged with death by auto, officials said.

"Everybody loved him," Louis Montanez said last night. "He did his time and came home and he straightened out his life." Robert Montanez was in jail from Sept. 24, 1995 to March 19, 1998 on the charge of manslaughter in the death of Jose "Joker" Martinez, who was shot in a Baldwin Avenue, Jersey City, doorway in September of 1995.

While Robert Montanez fought for his life at the medical center yesterday, numerous people turned up to show solidarity, including rappers Noreaga and Fat Joe.

Investigators ask that anyone with information about the shooting call the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office's homicide squad at (201) 915-1345.