Tampa police have arrested three of five of the people suspected of involvement in the murder of Florida rapper Foolio, who was gunned down in June at the age of 26. According to TMZ, Tampa police announced they arrested Alicia Andrews, Isaiah Chance, and Sean Gathright in Jacksonville; all three have been charged with first-degree murder. The two remaining suspects are brothers, Davion and Rashad Murphy. Per the Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw, all five have connections to a gang supposedly tied to another rapper, Yungeen Ace, with whom Foolio was known to be feuding over the past few years as both gained popularity.
Foolio was killed in the early hours of June 23, as multiple gunmen surrounded and shot at his vehicle in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn, where he was celebrating his 26th birthday after getting booted from an Airbnb for violating occupancy rules. TMZ shared security video released by police that showed the shooters approaching the hotel parking lot and firing at the rapper’s car with automatic rifles. Three other victims were apparently shot and hospitalized, but there were no other reported fatalities.
Yungeen Ace’s feud with Foolio went viral as a result of Ace’s 2021 song “Who I Smoke,” which drew attention for its interpolation of Vanessa Carlton’s fan-favorite 2002 hit “A Thousand Miles.” After Foolio’s death, he released another diss track, “Do It.”