PORTLAND, Ore. -- A Portland rapper was found shot to death earlier this week in a Houston motel.

Mark Stenberg, known as Blu Crush, was promoting his second album in Houston when someone shot him several times in the chest.

Stenberg’s wife, Aurelia, said she learned of her husband’s death in a phone call from a Houston police detective.

Motives for the killing were unclear Thursday.

Stenberg was on a nationwide tour to promote his latest album.

Aurelia Stenberg said her husband had a troubled life as a former gang member. But she said he began to turn things around three years ago when he became a rapper.

"He was a good person,” Aurelia Stenberg said. "He really wanted to do something for everyone."

Aurelia Stenberg said Blu Crush had hopes of hitting the big time and wanted to return to Portland with money to build halfway houses for the poor and community centers for troubled kids.

Stenberg, 29, had five children.

A fund has been set up at On-Point Credit Union in his name to help with funeral expenses.