On Monday, Florida authorities made an announcement regarding the arrest of three suspects involved in the murder of rapper Foolio. The suspects were charged with murder and two others are still at large.
According to a statement released by the Tampa police, the murder was driven by an ongoing conflict between two rival gangs.
On June 23, early morning, Charles Jones, the Jacksonville rapper, was shot and killed in a parking lot of an uptown Tampa hotel. In the parking lot, the police discovered two vehicles that had been shot at.
According to social media posts from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, three individuals were arrested on Saturday. The arrested individuals have been identified as Sean Gathright, 18, Alicia Andrews, 21, and Isaiah Chance Jr., 21.
According to authorities, Andrews and Chance are facing charges for premeditated first-degree murder with a firearm as well as conspiracy to commit premeditated first-degree murder with a firearm.
According to the police, Gathright faces charges of premeditated murder with a firearm, attempted premeditated murder with a firearm, and tampering with physical evidence. The charges include two counts of premeditated murder and three counts of first-degree attempted premeditated murder.
According to the sheriff’s office, the individuals have been charged with murder and are presently being held at the Duval County Pre-Trial Detention Center. They will be transferred to Tampa shortly.
Police have identified the suspects who are still at large as Rashad Murphy, aged 30, and Davion Murphy, aged 27. The two men have been charged with first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder. It is unclear whether the individuals are related as the police have not provided any information on their relationship.
According to the authorities, Chance and Andrews were able to locate and trail Jones and his group to two different spots on the day of his murder.
According to authorities, Chance and his accomplices got out of their vehicle at each location and used a cellphone. Shortly after, a second vehicle, operated by another suspect, arrived at each location. From there, both vehicles followed Jones to the hotel.
According to the police, the victims’ parked vehicles were surveilled twice by a vehicle at the crime scene before three shooters got out of a car and started firing at Jones’ vehicles. The incident resulted in the tragic death of Jones and caused injuries to three others.
The suspects have been identified by the Tampa police as Rashad Murphy, Sean Gathright and Davion Murphy.
According to the authorities, Jones was identified as a member of the “6 Block” gang in Jacksonville which is known to have an ongoing conflict with “ATK” and “1200” gangs. It has been revealed that Chance belongs to ATK gang, while Rashad Murphy and Davion Murphy are associated with 1200 gang. The sheriff’s office has well-documented evidence to support these claims.
According to the police, the hostility between 6 Block and its rival gangs, ATK and 1200, has been ongoing for more than ten years, resulting in numerous fatalities on both sides.
As of Monday afternoon, it remained uncertain whether the suspects who were arrested had hired legal representation.
According to the sheriff’s office, the arrests of the three suspects have been captured in a video and the case is still ongoing.
Sheriff T.K. Walters issued a warning on social media, stating that committing a crime in Jacksonville or any other city in Florida will not allow you to escape punishment. “There’s nowhere to hide,” he declared.
During a news conference on Monday afternoon, State Attorney Susan Lopez declared that all five defendants, including those who did not physically commit the murder, could face life imprisonment in the Florida State Prison. As per Florida law, individuals involved in planning a murder can be held accountable for the victim’s death, and the authorities plan to enforce this in the current case.
As per her statement, it was evident that their sole motive behind coming to Tampa was to commit murder. She emphasized, “They all had a common goal, which was to end someone’s life.”
Lopez emphasized how homicides can take a severe emotional toll on the families of victims.
According to her, Charles, also known as ‘Julio Foolio’ among his fans, is the subject of the fight for justice. She emphasized that his mother is the one deserving of justice.
On the night of his 26th birthday, Jones posted a video on his Instagram story, where he had a massive following of 1 million. In the video, he was seen promoting a pool party and inviting his followers to direct-message him for the address. Unfortunately, it was the same night when he was tragically killed.
In the evening, he took to social media and shared that the police had forced them out of their Airbnb rental, stating that they were shut down and kicked out.
According to a statement from his lawyer, Lewis Fusco, Jones was staying at a Holiday Inn when he was ambushed in the parking lot. In fact, Jones had already announced on social media back in April, when he released his latest album titled “Resurrection,” that he had endured “MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS ON MY LIFE” and survived.
He has been creating music since 2015.
