Ladeah Obituary: Mother narrate how her 8-year-old tells her reincarnation story

“My 8 year old just told me she died in 2004 when she was 17 years old in a hotel room. She said her name was Ladeah & she was a good person but she hated her name & her life. Her story was very detailed but she ended it with saying she doesn’t know why God sent her back in 2016 as “Alayvia” but she’s happy with her life & loves her name. I’m just sitting here speechless but intrigued,” a Florida mom, Tay Watson wrote in a Facebook post.

Who was Leah LaBelle?

Leah LaBelle Vladowski was an American singer. She rose to prominence in 2004 as a contestant on the third season of American Idol, placing twelfth in the season finals. In 2007, LaBelle began recording covers of R&B and soul music for her YouTube channel. These videos led to work as a backing vocalist starting in 2008 and a record deal in 2011 with Epic in partnership with I Am Other and So So Def Recordings. LaBelle released a sampler, three singles, and a posthumous extended play (EP).

Born in Toronto, Ontario, and raised in Seattle, Washington, LaBelle began pursuing music ambition as a career in her teens. As a child, she performed in the Total Experience Gospel Choir and the musical Black Nativity. In 2005, LaBelle attended the Berklee College of Music for a year before dropping out and relocating to Los Angeles. While in college, she collaborated with Andreao Heard on a demo. Following the advice of an industry contact, LaBelle released her music through her YouTube channel. Keri Hilson hired LaBelle as a backing vocalist after hearing her rendition of “Energy”, which led to her working for other artists on their tours.

LaBelle signed a record deal after Pharrell Williams and Jermaine Dupri contacted her. Her sampler Pharrell Williams and Jermaine Dupri Present Leah LaBelle (2012) was distributed only to record companies. It was supported by two singles, “Sexify” and “What Do We Got to Lose?” LaBelle received the Soul Train Centric Award at the 2012 Soul Train Music Awards. She released the non-album single “Lolita” the following year. On January 31, 2018, LaBelle and her boyfriend Rasual Butler died in a single vehicle car crash in Los Angeles, when Butler, under the influence of alcohol and drugs, lost control of the car. A posthumous EP, Love to the Moon, was released on September 7, 2018.

On January 31, 2018, LaBelle and her boyfriend, retired NBA player Rasual Butler, died in a single vehicle car crash in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, after he lost control of his Range Rover on Ventura Boulevard, hit a curb, and crashed into a strip mall parking lot. The car flipped twice before coming to rest. Before the crash, which occurred at 2:25 a.m. Pacific Time, Butler was driving two to three times over the speed limit. They both died instantly from “multiple traumatic injuries”. According to an autopsy report, Butler had methamphetamine, oxycodone, and marijuana in his system and a blood alcohol level of 0.118. LaBelle had a blood alcohol level of 0.144 and methamphetamine and amphetamine in her system at the time of the incident.

While multiple reports at the time of the incident referred to Butler as LaBelle’s husband, her obituaries and her official website clarified that they were not married. On February 3, 2018, Butler’s daughter from a past relationship, Raven, held a joint memorial service at Potter’s House, a Christian church in Los Angeles. LaBelle and Butler had both been members of the church. The memorial was streamed online. An individual service was held for LaBelle on February 24 at Garfield High School. Her mother provided a $10,000 scholarship under her daughter’s name to a University of Southern California student with an art major.