AURORA | The man shot and killed by Aurora police during a shootout early Tuesday morning was an accomplished rapper from California, online posts and videos indicate.
The rapper shot and killed his father-in-law inside an Aurora home before being shot dead himself moments later by police during a gun-fight, police said.
Esmond Trimble, 42, recorded dozens of songs under the pseudonym Ron Eazi from the late 2000s until about 2013, according to William Washington, a Denver software engineer who helped edit several of Trimble’s videos.
“I’m shocked and saddened at everything the way it’s gone down,” said Washington, who said he hadn’t spoken to Trimble in several years.
Washington said Trimble was originally from California and “always promoted himself as a California native.”
Trimble’s most viewed video promotes a song called “My Shine,” and featured another rapper who goes by the name Nipsey Hussle. The 2011 music video has more than 74,000 views on YouTube.
Washington said Trimble stopped pursuing a career in music around 2013.
Washington said he heard about Trimble’s death from news reports.
“When I see news stories like that I always check to make sure it’s not somebody I knew, and it was somebody I knew, and, basically, I was just shocked,” he said.
Trimble was shot and killed by Aurora police sometime after 2 a.m. Jan. 15 following an incident at a home on South Kenton Street near the intersection of East Mississippi Avenue and Havana Street.
Upon responding to the home at 1473 Kenton St., police reported hearing gunfire. Officers then “exchanged gunfire” with Trimble, who was wearing “body armor,” according to an Aurora Police Department press release.
After shooting and incapacitating Trimble, police entered the home and found Dean Heerdt, 58, lying on the ground with gunshot wounds.
Heerdt was a co-owner of the home on Kenton Street, along with Kathy Heerdt, Arapahoe County property records show.
Both Dean Heerdt and Trimble later died at a local hospital, police said. Both deaths have been classified as homicides by the Arapahoe County Coroner.
Heerdt was Trimble’s father-in-law, according to Washington. He said he didn’t know exactly what precipitated the incident.
“It sounds like a domestic dispute, but they’ve always been a very happy family,” Washington said.
Trimble leaves behind a wife, Erin Heerdt Trimble, and two children: a 10-year-old son, and a 7-year-old daughter.
Attempts to reach Erin Heerdt Trimble were not immediately successful.
Washington said he didn’t know why the Trimbles were in Colorado.
He said the family had moved to Iowa about a year ago.
Erin Heerdt Trimble, 33, owns an Aurora-based childcare business near the intersection of South Tower Road and East Iliff Avenue, according to the website for Erin’s Neighborhood Child Care.
