Julio Foolio’s killers will be spending the rest of their lives in prison.
On Monday (June 22), Isaiah Chance, Sean Gathright, Davion Murphy and Rashad Murphy, who had all been found guilty of the Jacksonville, Florida rapper’s murder last month, were sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Hillsborough County Court Judge Kimberly Fernandez was responsible for the sentence, which mirrored the recommendation given by jurors in the case — a recommendation that went against prosecutors’ wish for the four men to receive the death penalty.
A fifth suspect, Alicia Andrews, was found guilty of manslaughter last year.
On Monday, Judge Fernandez told the men that they could still “contribute” because, despite the sentence, they have “lives of value.”
"These decisions that are made can have unalterable changes that you can't come back from," she said. "There's no coming back from them. You either end up dead or incarcerated for life. And I, I feel like, you know, you gentlemen had much more to offer."
Chance, speaking at the sentencing, had an emotional message for “my city.”
“It ain’t worth it. Me being a rapper from my city, and Julio being a rapper from our city, it ain’t worth it. The dissing, the beefing, the shooting. For what?
“When you’re sitting in your cell alone, cold, lonely, and everybody leave you…The only person there for you is your mother and maybe one friend…
“I was 21 years old, facing the death penalty. My only interaction with law enforcement was traffic tickets. Wake up the next morning, I’m facing the death penalty. That’s how quick life can change.”
Foolio was shot and killed on June 23, 2024, after coming to Tampa to celebrate his 26th birthday at an Airbnb. He was eventually asked to leave due to having too many people at the residence, causing him to attempt to get a room at a nearby Holiday Inn.
That’s when the four men, who’d been allegedly tracking him through multiple Tampa nightclubs that night, shot at his car as someone else in the vehicle attempted to drive away. Foolio died at the scene.
Authorities have claimed that Foolio’s murder was due to a war between multiple Jacksonville gangs. They claimed that 6 Block, which Foolio had allegedly belonged to, was in an ongoing altercation between two allied gangs, ATK (Ace’s Top Killers, which is, per prosecutors, connected to rapper Yungeen Ace) and 1200.
Foolio gained national attention in 2021 due to his feud with Yungeen Ace after the latter dropped “Who I Smoke,” allegedly dissing the former’s fallen friends. Foolio responded with several diss tracks, such as “Beatbox Remix” and “When I See You.”
