Florida rapper Julio Foolio, 26, was shot dead in Tampa, Florida on June 23, 2024.
A Jacksonville, Florida man who was out on bail for a shooting at the Holly Hills Apartments in Oxford, Mississippi has been arrested in the shooting death of Florida Rapper Julio Foolio on June 23, 2024.
On May 25, 2023, the Oxford Police Department arrested Sean Gathright, 17, of Jacksonville, Florida for Aggravated Assault in relation to a shooting that occurred on May 20, 2023, at Holly Hills Apartments in Oxford. Gathright was charged as an adult. He was taken before a Lafayette County Justice Court judge for his initial bond hearing and issued a $50,000 bond.
Gathright and four other suspects were arrested on Saturday, July 28, 2024 in Jacksonville in connection with the with the death of Florida rapper Julio Foolio, who was killed in what police say was a planned gang-related shooting while celebrating his birthday in June.
Sean Gathright, 18, was nabbed at a shopping center, while Alicia Andrews and Isaiah Chance Jr., both 21, were located together at a residence, the arrest records indicated.
All three are currently being held in Jacksonville as fugitives from justice, and will be transferred to the Tampa Police Department to face felony murder charges, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said.
A fourth suspect, Rashad Murphy, 30, was arrested early Tuesday on a local warrant for not having a valid driver’s license.
He surrendered to SWAT teams and cops at an apartment complex following a tense, hours-long standoff that required surrounding homes to be evacuated, the Sheriff’s Office said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, a fifth suspect, Rashad Murphy’s cousin Davion Murphy, 27, remained at large.
All five suspects allegedly traveled from Jacksonville to Tampa between June 21-23, 2024, to kill Julio Foolio, 26, in retaliation for an ongoing gang feud, the Tampa Police Department said.
The rapper — whose real name was Charles Jones II — was a known member of the “6 Block” gang in Jacksonville, authorities noted.
The 6 Block gang has a long rivalry with two other street gangs known as “ATK” and “1200.” Chance is a member of ATK, while Rashad Murphy is a member of 1200 and Davion Murphy is a 1200 associate.
Julio Foolio turned 26 on June 21. Two days later, Chance and Andrews allegedly tracked him and his entourage to two separate locations in the Tampa area, police said.
At each location, the suspects exited their car and Chance used a cellphone. After the cellphone use, a second suspect vehicle showed up, police noted.
The two vehicles then followed the rapper and his crew to a Home 2 Suites, where three armed shooters got out of a car and began shooting at Julio Foolio’s parked vehicles, video footage showed.
The shooters are believed to have been Rashad Murphy, Sean Gathright, and Davion Murphy.
Julio Foolio was killed, and three others were injured in the incident.
Shortly before the shooting, the musician had been celebrating his birthday with a pool party at a nearby Airbnb.
The event, which was posted all over social media, allegedly got too out of control, and police forced the rapper to leave the property, attorney Lewis Fusco said at the time.
@frontlinetv #Jacksonville, #Florida police have charged 18-year-old Sean Gathright, 21-year-old Alicia Andrews and 21-year-old Isaiah Chance Jr. in #Foolio's m-rder in #Tampa. Investigators said they traveled from Jacksonville to Tampa following him all night, and also the suspected sh-ters are affiliated with ATK & 1200. #fyp #foryoupage #foryou #frontlinetv #viral #trending ♬ original sound – FrontlineTv
“There’s no place you’ll be able to hide if you commit crime in Jacksonville or any other city in the state of Florida,” Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said of the spate of arrests one month after the deadly shooting.
Andrews and Chance are both expected to be charged with premeditated first-degree murder with a firearm and premeditated first-degree murder with a firearm, according to police records.
Gathright is facing two counts of premeditated murder with a firearm, three counts of first-degree attempted premeditated murder with a firearm, and one count of tampering with physical evidence.
Andrews, Chance and Gathright will appear in court on Aug. 9.
Rashad Murphy is expected to be charged with one count of premeditated first-degree murder, one count of conspiracy and three counts of attempted murder in the first-degree. It was not clear when he would be expected in court.
All five suspects are facing life in prison, “even the ones who didn’t pull the trigger,” State Attorney Susan Lopez said Monday.
“In Florida, if you participate in the planning of a murder, you can be held accountable for the person’s death, and that is what we intend to do here,” she said.
“It is clear that they all had one purpose in coming to Tampa, and that was to kill.”
Julio Foolio started producing music in 2015, NBC News reported. When he released his final album “Resurrection,” in April, he noted that he had already survived “multiple attempt on my life.”
The rapper’s father, Charles Andrew Jones, was shot dead during an argument in Jacksonville in May 2011.
Publisher’s Note August 1, 2024: Since we broke this story on July 30, The Local Voice has learned that the Lafayette County District Attorney‘s office dropped charges against Sean Gathright some time after he posted bond for the shooting in Oxford in 2023.
