Rihanna's cousin shot dead hours after sharing Christmas with singer

Rihanna posted a series of photos and an emotional tribute to her cousin Tavon Kaiseen Alleyne on Instagram after he was shot dead on Tuesday night.

Rihanna's cousin has been shot dead in Barbados just hours after they spent Christmas Day together.

The 29-year-old singer posted a series of photos of her and Tavon Kaiseen Alleyne together and called for an end to gun crime as she mourned his death.

Alleyne, 21, was walking through a track in the St Michael's area of the holiday island at around 7pm on Tuesday night when he was approached by a man and shot several times.

"RIP cousin... can't believe it was just last night that I held you in my arms!" the heartbroken Wild Thoughts singer wrote to her 59 million Instagram followers.

View this post on Instagram

RIP cousin... can't believe it was just last night that I held you in my arms! never thought that would be the last time I felt the warmth in your body!!! Love you always man! 😢🙏🏿❤ #endgunviolence

A post shared by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Dec 26, 2017 at 7:16pm PST

"Never thought that would be the last time I felt the warmth in your body!!! Love you always man!"

The eight-time Grammy award winner added the hashtag, '#endgunviolence,' at the end of the post.

According to Nation News, the gunman, who has not been identified, shot Alleyne several times before fleeing the scene.

The 21-year-old was rushed to a nearby hospital in a private vehicle but eventually succumbed to his injuries.

Rhianna later added a memorial panel to her Instagram Stories, with a black background adding his handle - @merka_95.