A Phoenix radio personality has died after coming down with flu-like symptoms while visiting the Tampa Bay area over the holidays, according to WTSP-TV. Stephen Seravalli, known as Deejay Trauma, passed away in Phoenix some time Saturday night into Sunday.
Seravalli was also a well-known DJ who worked in Tampa Bay at WiLD 94.1 from 1999 to 2008.
“He would walk in and make everyone laugh,” WLLD-FM PD Orlando Davis told WTSP. After Trauma left for another radio job in Phoenix, he still kept in touch with his former co-workers. They are shocked by his sudden death over the weekend. After all, they’d all seen Trauma just a few weeks ago over the holidays. But he’d returned to Phoenix with what he thought was a bad case of the flu.
“He was really sick,” said Davis. “He even sent pictures to his mother, because his throat was so sore and closing up.” But Davis indicates Trauma was also using other medications and the Maricopa County Medical Examiner is planning an autopsy.
On his Facebook page, Seravalli listed Riviera Broadcasting’s Power 98.3 in Phoenix as the most recent station where he worked.
According to Brett Funeral Home in St. Pete, visitation for Seravalli will be held on 1/22, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., including a “celebration of life” at 5 p.m. He was born in Long Island, NY, in 1974.
