In the last weeks of his life, Oakland hip-hop artist Stephen Gaines, better known as Zumbi of Zion I, had started a hopeful new chapter.

In July 2021, he headlined a concert in Nevada City where eager fans lined up for pictures and autographs. He’d come down with COVID-19 after the show, but with his partner of four years, Millaray Rodriguez Avila, he began recovering. The couple visited the beach and went on hikes, and Gaines regained his appetite, eating second helpings of vegan ramen.

Gaines laid plans to release new music and embark upon a Zion I reunion tour with his longtime musical collaborator, Amp Live. He and Rodriguez Avila prepared to sign a lease on a house in Oakland, where they planned to live with Gaines’ mother, his young three boys and Rodriguez Avila’s middle school-age son.

All of those plans ground to a halt on Aug. 13, 2021, when Gaines was killed during a stay at Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley.

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