Four arrested in connection with the murder of rapper Julio Foolio
Following the death of Florida rap star Julio Foolio in June, four arrests have been made in connection with his murder.
Foolio, who was born Charles Jones, passed away on June 23rd after his vehicle was ambushed by gunfire while in the Holiday Inn car park in Tampa. In the hours before his death, Jones had been celebrating his 26th birthday by hosting a party at an Airbnb in the area but claimed on Instagram that authorities had “shut us down and kicked us out”.
The incident allegedly took place at 4:40am local time, and in addition to Jones’ death, three others in the vehicle were injured.
Over the past weekend, local police in Tampa arrested Alicia Thomas, Isaiah Chance, and Sean Gathright on first-degree premeditated murder charges. Following the initial arrests, they continued to search Rashad and Davion Murphy in connection with the shooting before Rashad surrendered to similar charges on July 30th following a stand-off with police.
Jax’s Sheriff Office shared on July 30th: “Overnight, your Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Marshals Service tracked Rashad Murphy, 30, to an apartment complex off Collins Road. He was wanted for murder in the Tampa shooting death of Charles Jones, also known as Julio Foolio, last month. JSO CPR, Gang, and SWAT units surrounded the unit and helped evacuate nearby residents.”
Detailing the arrest of Rashad Murphy, they explained: “After hours of negotiators attempting to talk Murphy out, with assistance from patrol and the UAS Unit, SWAT operators used tactics to force the man out. Murphy surrendered just after midnight. He is the 4th person arrested on the Tampa case. Detectives continue to track another suspect, Davion Murphy.”
The statement concluded: “JSO is working closely with Tampa Police and other partners to investigate the case and protect our streets. If you have any information, call the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office or First Coast Crime Stoppers.”
At this stage, a potential motive for the killing remains unknown, and the local authorities have yet to divulge further information regarding the reasoning for Jones’ death.
However, before releasing his latest album, Resurrection, in April, Jones confessed there had been “multiple attempts” to take his life. He wrote on social media: “These last couple months/years of my life been tragic, God been trynna send me a message multiple attempts on my life I keep surviving…I keep losing my bruddas to jail and graveyards but I know the most high doing everything for a reason he let me walk again for a reason.