One month after the murder of rapper Julio Foolio on his 26th birthday in Tampa, officials still have not identified any suspects or made any arrests.
Jacksonville-based rapper Julio Foolio, whose real name is Charles Jones, was fatally shot in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Tampa North on June 23. Three others were injured in the shooting.
Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw told community members at a town hall meeting on June 24 that preliminary information showed Jacksonville-based groups were involved in the shooting. However, Bercaw did not name the groups involved or any individuals involved.
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters shared similar information at a press conference that same day.
"These groups – I won't name them, they know who they are – we're not going to tolerate any retribution, any revenge. We're going to watch. We're going to pay attention to what's going on," Waters said.
The Tampa Police Department told Newsweek that there are no updates at this time.
Jones' mother, Sandrikas Mays, told Newsweek that officials are putting in the work to solve the case.
"The FBI detectives in Tampa, they are working every day. They are getting good leads and things of that sort," Mays said. "So of course I want justice for him, and we will have justice for him. I know for a fact we will have justice for Charles. They are working day in, day out from the time I got to the scene."
Mays said Foolio had been shot at several times prior to his death, but she "never thought he would pass away from a shooting."
"We have to understand that Charles wasn't getting shot at because he killed somebody, because he robbed somebody, because anything like that," Mays said. "That's not what happened. All this happened because of rapping."
She said she was also shot eight times at close range.
"I was telling him, 'It's your rapping. You need to stop it,'" Mays said.
Despite his mother's warnings, he refused to give up on his dream.
"This has been going on for over a decade, and I talked to him about these things, but these kids do what they want to do," Mays said. "You can't tell them anything. Even as an adult, you can't. He'll listen to some things that I say, but he did what he wanted to do."
Foolio had over 950,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Some of his most popular songs included Voo Doo, Dead Opps. Pt. 2, I Hate You I Love You and Play With Me.
Officials are asking the public to share any videos or information related to the incident with the Tampa Police Department at 813-231-6130.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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