TAMPA, Fla. – The attorney for one of the remaining defendants facing trial in the murder of Charles Jones, a Jacksonville rapper known as “Julio Foolio“, is asking for his client to be tried separately.
Jones, 26, was shot and killed on June 23, 2024, in an ambush attack while celebrating his birthday in Tampa.
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Court documents accuse Alicia Andrews, Isaiah Chance, Sean Gathright, Davion Murphy and Rashad Murphy of traveling from Jacksonville to Tampa on June 22, 2024, in two separate cars to find and kill Jones in retaliation for an ongoing Jacksonville gang war between 6Block and allied gangs, ATK and 1200.
Officials said Chance is a documented ATK member, Rashad Murphy is a 1200 member and Davion Murphy is a 1200 associate.
According to a memorandum filed Thursday by the attorney for Rashad Murphy, the court conducted a hearing for Murphy’s motion for severance last month but did not issue a ruling.
However, the attorney said at the conclusion of the severance hearing, the court did indicate that forensic evidence linking certain co-defendants to a prior shooting may be admissible against all defendants if it determines that the prior shootings are “inextricably intertwined” with the charged offense.
Another hearing is scheduled for Friday morning in Hillsborough County.
A jury already found Alicia Andrews, a Jacksonville woman, guilty of manslaughter in the murder.
Andrews’ sentencing will be Dec. 8 at 8:30 a.m.
She was the first of five people accused in the shooting to go to trial. She is the only defendant not facing the death penalty in the case.