The Senior Vice President of Island Def Jam Music Group and the Executive Vice President of Def Jam, music producer Shakir Stewart was found dead in his home in Atlanta on Saturday, November 1st.

According to the police report, Stewart was found in the house’s bathroom, taken to the hospital immediately but unfortunately pronounced dead at once. The coroner established that he died of gunshot wounds, which appear to have been self-inflicted. To all those who knew Stewart, suicide seems to be the most unreasonable explanation for his death.

Michelle Rivers, his fiancée, released a statement on behalf of her and Shakir’s family, in which she revealed that the man everyone knew and loved had been deeply troubled during the last weeks of his life. She asked everyone who knew Shakir to “remember him for who he was” – “a wonderful father, partner, son and friend” Def Jam also released a statement, praising the wonderful man that was Shakir Stewart, calling him “an amazing man”, “a truly incredible friend and father”, “an inspiration”.

Shakir Stewart was born in the year 1974, in Oakland, California. His first job as a music executive was with Hitco Music Publishing, a company where he signed Beyoncé. He then moved to LaFace Records as a consultant, where he signed Ciara.

In 2008, he moved to Def Jam as Executive Vice President, taking over Jay-Z’s former position. He proceeded to sign in new talents (his knack at discovering people with innate talents was obvious after the success registered by both Beyoncé and Ciara). Moreover, Stewart was also responsible for supervising some of Def Jam’s most important projects, such as Nas or LL Cool J.