Jacksonville sheriff’s deputies arrested one of the men charged with fatally shooting a rapper in Tampa last month, negotiating his surrender early Tuesday morning after an hourslong standoff.
Deputies and U.S. marshals tracked Rashad Murphy, 30, to an apartment complex on Collins Road in Jacksonville on Monday night, the sheriff’s office announced Tuesday morning on Facebook. Law enforcement arrived at the apartment just after 9 p.m. and began negotiating Murphy’s surrender, evacuating residents as they did so.
After nearly three hours of negotiation, a sheriff’s office SWAT team breached the apartment window to force Murphy out. He gave himself up shortly after midnight.
The arrest came less than 12 hours after the Tampa Police Department announced the arrests of three other suspects in the June murder of rap artist Charles Jones, who had been in Tampa celebrating his 26th birthday. Davion Murphy, 27, the fifth person charged in the killing, remains at large. He is Rashad Murphy’s cousin and is believed to be in the Jacksonville area, according to the sheriff’s office.
Jones, known by his stage name Julio Foolio, was killed in the shooting. Three others were injured.
According to police, Rashad Murphy and his cousin are both documented members of Ace’s Top Killers, a Jacksonville gang rivaled with the Six Block Gang. Police said Jones was a member of Six Block.
Rashad Murphy, Davion Murphy and Sean Gathright, 18, carried out the shooting, police said, charging Jones’ car and firing at it as the driver tried to flee.
Two others, Isaiah Chance, 21, and Alicia Andrews, 21, are accused of traveling with the three to Tampa and helping plan the shooting but did not directly participate. All five are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
In a surveillance footage compilation released Monday, police say Rashad Murphy can be seen wielding an automatic handgun, running with Gathright to attack Jones’ car. Davion Murphy, wearing an orange ski mask, remained near the fence line and fired at the vehicle with a rifle, according to police.
Rashad Murphy was admitted to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office pretrial detention facility shortly after 5 a.m. and was set to appear before a judge at 1 p.m.
Anyone with information on the location of Davion Murphy can call the Tampa Police Department at 813-231-6130 or contact Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 800-873-8477.
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