--- title: Rihanna Calls for End to Gun Violence After Cousin Is Killed description: Rihanna called for an end to gun violence as she mourned the loss of her cousin, who was gunned down hours after the two were together. canonical: https://time.com/5080295/rihanna-cousin-barbados/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-27T16:02:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T11:26:18.973Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Rihanna Calls for End to Gun Violence After Cousin’s Death og:description: “Can’t believe it was just last night that I held you in my arms!” og:url: https://time.com/5080295/rihanna-cousin-barbados/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rihanna Calls for End to Gun Violence After Cousin’s Death twitter:description: “Can’t believe it was just last night that I held you in my arms!” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Rihanna Calls for End to Gun Violence After Cousin’s Death ## Video: Gun-Related Deaths in America Keep Going Up [Watch (HLS stream): Gun-Related Deaths in America Keep Going Up](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/E6oKh8wr.m3u8) (1:17)  _Published 2017-11-06. Firearm-related deaths rose for the second-straight year in 2016, largely due to spikes in gun violence in major cities like Chicago, newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found._  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Dec 27, 2017 4:02 PM UTC  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Dec 27, 2017 4:02 PM UTC Rihanna on Tuesday called for an end to gun violence as she mourned the loss of her cousin, who was reportedly gunned down after Christmas in her homeland of Barbados, hours after the two were together for the holidays. In an emotional [Instagram post](https://www.instagram.com/p/BdMLSMTDO5i/?hl=en&taken-by=badgalriri), the stunned singer recalled how she had just seen her cousin before he was shot and killed. “Can’t believe it was just last night that I held you in my arms!” she wrote. “Never thought that would be the last time I felt the warmth in your body!!!” Rihanna ended the Instagram post with the hashtag #endgunviolence. She did not name her cousin, but she tagged his Instagram account in one of the photos. [_Nation News_](http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/114369/rihanna-mourns-cousins-death), a news publication in Barbados, identified the slain man as 21-year-old Tavon Kaiseen Alleyne, although a representative for Rihanna did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation Wednesday. Citing police, the local news outlet said Alleyne was shot multiple times while walking around his house. In February, Rihanna’s cousin wished the superstar a happy birthday in an [Instagram post](https://www.instagram.com/p/BQu3NtEAh4F/?taken-by=merka%5F95). “Every day we are happy to have you in our lives,” he wrote. “Your presence in my life is a source of joy and happiness. To my favorite cousin, may all your dreams and wishes come true.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5080295/rihanna-cousin-barbados/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5080295/rihanna-cousin-barbados/"},"headline":"Rihanna Calls for End to Gun Violence After Cousin’s Death","datePublished":"2017-12-27T16:02:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T11:26:18.973Z","description":"“Can’t believe it was just last night that I held you in my arms!”","url":"https://time.com/5080295/rihanna-cousin-barbados/","keywords":["celebrities","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5080295/rihanna-cousin-barbados/","name":"Rihanna Calls for End to Gun Violence After Cousin’s Death"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Gun-Related Deaths in America Keep Going Up","description":"Firearm-related deaths rose for the second-straight year in 2016, largely due to spikes in gun violence in major cities like Chicago, newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/E6oKh8wr/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-11-06T23:11:12.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/E6oKh8wr.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5080295/rihanna-cousin-barbados/","duration":"PT1M17S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5080295/rihanna-cousin-barbados/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```