Three arrested over ‘murder’ of US rapper Julio Foolio

The Tampa police department has arrested three suspects in connection to the murder of Julio Foolio, the US rapper.

Foolio, born Charles Jones, was shot dead on June 23 during the celebration of his 26th birthday.

The police department announced the arrest of three suspects in Jacksonville in a press release on Monday.

Sean Gathright, 18, Alicia Andrews, 21, and Isaiah Chance Jr., 21 — were each charged with premeditated first-degree murder with a firearm and conspiracy to commit premeditated first-degree murder with a firearm.

Gathright was also accused of tampering with physical evidence.

The 18-year-old suspect was charged with an additional count of premeditated first-degree murder, as well as two more counts of premeditated first-degree murder with a firearm.

The police also issued arrest warrants for two other suspects — Rashad Murphy, 30, and Davion Murphy, 27.

They are both wanted on one charge of first-degree murder, as well as a count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and three counts each of attempted first-degree murder.

According to the Tampa police, the five suspects conspired to murder the rapper between June 21 to 23.

The police claimed they travelled from Jacksonville to Tampa on June 22 in two vehicles to “locate and kill Jones in retaliation for an ongoing Jacksonville rival gang feud”.

On June 23, police said Chance and Andrews tracked and followed Foolio and his entourage to a hotel where the rapper was killed and three others injured.

The rapper was said to have shared his location multiple times on social media before the incident.

The suspects are allegedly members of two different gangs — ‘ATK’ and ‘1200’. Foolio was also said to be a member of the ‘6 Block’ gang.

The police claimed Foolio’s murder was connected to an ongoing, years-long feud between the three rival gangs.