Revealed: Tupac Shakur’s ‘crack fiend mama’ lived in ‘SCARY’ houseboat community full of drug addicts like ‘Psycho Steve’ before shock death

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According to the Daily Mail, Tupac Shakur’s mother, Afeni, who he once referred to in a song as struggling with drug addiction, was involved with individuals considered dangerous before her death from a heart attack in 2016 at the age of 69.

The rapper’s mother, who struggled with many challenges, lived for several years on a houseboat in the Kappas Marina community in northern Sausalito, an area close to the somewhat rundown and intimidating Gate Six district.

Okay, so everyone thinks Sausalito is all fancy yachts and million-dollar views, being right near San Francisco and all. But the part I loved? It wasn’t like that at all. It was rough around the edges, a little gritty, and honestly, even now it still has that vibe, which is exactly why I’m so obsessed with it. It’s real, you know?

Drug dealing began in the area in the 1970s and peaked in the early 2000s.

According to a local resident who spoke with Daily Mail, Afeni lived on a houseboat docked behind a liquor store. The area was known for attracting a rough crowd, described as people dealing with addiction and others you wouldn’t want to approach.

One woman, known as The Insect due to her strange behavior and dislike of drugs, was a peculiar individual. Another was a drug dealer named Psycho Steve, who was constantly under the influence and sold crack cocaine.

Anyone with good judgment would have avoided this place. But if you were looking for drugs, this is where you’d go.

According to a source who lived near Gate Six, Afeni lived on a charming, somewhat quirky houseboat that overlooked Tiburon and San Francisco. She often spent time with the people who lived in the area.

‘Her place was behind the liquor store that is still there,’ the source said. 

People in the neighborhood knew her as Tupac’s mother – often referred to as ‘Pac’s mama’ – and she was somewhat of a local celebrity because she always had interesting stories to tell, according to a source.

I’ve always been fascinated by the houseboat community in Sausalito. It’s such a creatively vibrant place with an amazing past! I learned that Shel Silverstein actually lived there for a while, and unbelievably, that’s where the iconic song ‘Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay’ was written. It’s wild to think that even Suzanne Somers, before she became a huge star on ‘Three’s Company,’ called those houseboats home too. It really feels like a place where dreams took root.

The picturesque houseboats have appeared on screen before, serving as a filming location for movies like ‘Foul Play’ starring Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn, as well as episodes of the TV show ‘The Streets of San Francisco’.

This location also served as the home for Robert Downey Jr.’s character in the film Zodiac, and more recently, it was the filming location for the first season of Jennifer Garner’s series, The Last Thing He Told Me.

The area’s changed drastically. Drug users have been forced out, and now wealthy people are buying up the houseboats. What used to be affordable rentals, around $500 a month, are now selling for a million dollars each.

Afeni moved to the Bay Area in the late 1980s after residing in Baltimore. 

In 1988, she and her son lived in Marin City, near the Kappas Marina and Gate Six in Sausalito. However, a year later, he moved out, reportedly because of arguments with his mother.

His next home was in Oakland then Los Angeles. He was killed in Nevada in 1996.

Afeni passed away at Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae, California, in May 2016. She was 69 years old and had experienced cardiac arrest earlier that evening. Greenbrae is located approximately eight miles from Kappas Marina.

Tupac paid tribute to her in his song Dear Mama where he mentioned her drug problems. 

Even when you were struggling with addiction, you always carried yourself with dignity and strength. I now realize how difficult it must have been for you to raise me, a man, on your own. Despite being a poor, single mother relying on welfare, you were completely dedicated. I can’t repay everything you’ve done, but I want to show you how much I appreciate and understand you.

He was murdered at age 25 in 1996.

Following the death of her son, the famous rapper Tupac Shakur, Afeni Shakur managed his estate. She also oversaw the production of the biographical film about his life, titled ‘All Eyez on Me’.

Afeni was born in North Carolina in 1947. When she was eleven years old, in 1958, her family relocated to the South Bronx.

Williams went to both Bronx High School of Science and the High School of Performing Arts in Manhattan, but he left after just one semester.

In the late 1960s, she first joined the Disciples, a street gang in the Bronx, and then became involved with the Black Panther Party after they established a Harlem office in 1968.

There she met Lumumba Shakur, and they wed in November 1968.

She gave birth to her son, Lesane Parish Crooks, on June 16, 1971. He later became known as Tupac Amaru Shakur.

Shakur’s marriage ended after it came to light that her son’s biological father was Billy Garland, not Lumumba.

I still can’t believe it. Back in April of ’69, they arrested her – her! – along with twenty other Panthers. They accused them of plotting to bomb police stations and buildings all over New York City. It just didn’t seem possible, this incredible woman caught up in such a serious charge. It felt like a deliberate attempt to silence her and everything she stood for.

The pre-trial started in February 1970 and the actual trial commenced on September 8, 1970.

She and the other members of the Black Panther Party were accused of attempted murder, plotting to commit murder, planning to bomb buildings, and general conspiracy.

In her autobiography, Shakur explained that she was young and full of herself, but also a skilled and effective lawyer in court. She felt she was facing a life sentence and believed she might not have another chance to be heard, so she approached the proceedings as if she were writing her final statement.

Although she and the other defendants in the ‘Panther 21’ case were found not guilty in May 1971 after a lengthy eight-month trial, she unexpectedly spent two years in the New York Women’s House of Detention before her acquittal was finalized.

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2026-01-27 18:56