A Florida rapper was fatally shot early Sunday while visiting Tampa to celebrate his 26th birthday. Julio Foolio, whom TMZ describes as an "up-and-coming" artist from Jacksonville that first made waves with his 2018 debut album 6toven and who Local 10 says was most well known for his 2019 song "Voo Doo," shared on Instagram Saturday afternoon that police had responded to his pool party at an Airbnb rental because there were so many guests. Hours later, the rapper, real name Charles Jones, was shot dead in the parking lot of a hotel to which he'd checked in after being kicked out of the vacation rental, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Jones' lawyer says the rapper was "ambushed" in the parking lot around 4:40am. Police found two cars there that had been shot at; three other people were injured in the incident, but were expected to survive. TMZ reports Jones, whose most recent album was released in April, commonly referenced murders (reportedly including ones that were gang-related) in the Jacksonville area in his lyrics, and he was reportedly open about his association with a Jacksonville-area gang. There was an attempt on his life in 2021, and his half-brother was fatally shot in 2018. A crime analyst tells News4Jax that retaliation is possible following Jones' slaying. (More Florida stories.)
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