Jacksonville rapper Julio Foolio was shot and killed ata Holiday Inn in Tampa early Sunday morning, according to his attorney.
Charles Andrew Jones II, who performs under the stage name Julio Foolio, was celebrating his 26th birthday at a party he advertised on Instagram.
According to his attorney, Lewis Fusco, Jones had too many people at the Airbnb where the party was hosted and had to leave. He got a room at a Holiday Inn across from the University of South Florida, where he was “basically ambushed” in the parking lot, Fusco told News4Jax.
Tampa police tentatively identified the victim in the shooting as Jones and said three others were shot and are being treated at a local hospital. Their condition was listed as stable.
The mass shooting was one of 11 around the country over the weekend and the 19th to happen in Florida this year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.
Who is Julio Foolio?
Jones, who labeled himself as an independent artist, was a Jacksonville rapper who grew up in Moncrief. He started getting noticed with his Soulja K collab “Dirty Sticks,” and was ranked 13th on the Top 20 Florida Rappers Fall List by Say Cheese TV. In July 2018, he created his breakout mixtape collaboration "6Toven" with legendary producer Zaytoven.
He often rapped about friends who were murdered — 15 before he was 20, according to his Spotify bio — and talked about music as therapy. “I love music because I can hear a beat sometimes," he told Eric Wells for Complex, "and I feel like it’s talking to me."
But it was the feud between him and Yungeen Ace and his songs mocking fallen rivals that brought him national attention, 1.1 million followers on Instagram and over one million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Foolio has released 10 albums, including his latest in April, "Resurrrection."
"I am deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Foolio," Fusco posted to an Instagram story. "While most people knew him as the controversial rapper and entertainer, I was fortunate enough to know Charles Jones, the man beyond the public persona. He was a kid who grew up in challenging circ*mstances, determined to defy the odds by any means possible and succeed in all that he did. His journey was marked by resilience and a deep-seated desire to strive for greatness."
Was Julio Foolio in a gang war?
Jones belonged to the Jacksonville gang KTA, which has been feuding for years with the gang ATK. Jacksonville rapperYungeen Ace, real name Kenyatta Bullard, is the star of ATK. The two groups grew out of the rap subculture drill rap, which focuses on drug culture, guns and gang violence.
The feud went from violent to deadly in 2017 when Jones' cousin, Zion Malik Brown, 18 was shot and killed. Two girls, ages 9 and 15, suffered multiple gunshot wounds, according to police. Deontrae Jaquez Thomas, an associate of Bullard, was arrested and charged. The next June, Bullard and three other teens were shot at while celebrating the rapper's brother's birthday at a restaurant. Bullard was shot eight times, but the other three — including his brother, Tre'von Bullard, 18 — died.
Jones made several posts on social media glorifying the killings and showing off a mocking t-shirt with a photo of one of the slain teens, saying, "I'm getting a new T-shirt made for my show."
In 2019, Willie Addison, who rapped as Boss Goon, was shot and killed outside the Paradise Gentlemen's Club where he had just performed, firstcoastnews.com reported. Several of his family members and family members of ATK rapper Hakeem Robinson, known as Ksoo, were injured. Soon after that, Robinson was charged in separate incidents for the deaths of Charles Quentin McCormick Jr., a KTA rapper who performed as Lilbuck, and Jones' close friend, Adrian Dennard Gainer Jr, 16, also known as Bibby.
In 2021, Jones was shot at and injured while getting out of his vehicle. "Y’all miss a whole 100 shots literally," he said on Instagram hours later. He was also shot in Houston, Texas in July 2020, an event that rival Jacksonville rapper FastMoney Goon talked about in a viral music video, "Who I Smoke."
Last October Jones was shot in the foot when the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said, "it appears that the suspect or suspects were waiting for the victim and ambushed him." The car he was driving was riddled with bullet holes, firstcoastnews.com reported.
"Over 5 plus attempts on my life & im still here real Demi god," he posted in January, "along with a new song depicting himself singing from a wheelchair about people trying to kill a superstar.
"These last couple months/years of my life have been tragic," Jones posted on Instagram in April. "God been tryna send me a message multiple attempts on my life I keep surviving. I keep losing my bruddas to jail and graveyards but I know the most high doing everything for a reason he let me walk again for a reason."
What happened to Julio Foolio?
"Mr. Jones had been in Tampa to celebrate his birthday over the weekend," Fusco said in a news release. "Law enforcement reports indicate that he initially stayed at an Airbnb but was asked to leave due to exceeding occupancy limits. He subsequently relocated to the Holiday Inn, where he was involved in an incident in the hotel parking lot and reportedly ambushed."
Instagram posts by Jones showed a pool party at an Airbnb and a birthday party at Teaser's, a gentleman's club in Tampa.
The Tampa Police Department said it received a 911 call regarding a shooting at the 11606 McKinley Drive hotel at approximately 4:40 a.m.and officers observed two vehicles that had been shot at in the parking lot. Four people were injured in the shooting, police said, with one person pronounced dead. Three other victims were treated at a local hospital.
Police are investigating what led up to the shooting. The agency has not released a description of the shooter or shooters.
"God thank you for allowing me to see another Year & To celebrate another birthday," Jones posted in one of his last X posts. "appreciate all the birthday wishes so far"
What do ATK and KTA stand for in Jacksonville?
The meaning behind the names remains hidden. Jacksonville police and the U.S. Attorney's office claim that ATK stands for "Ace's Top Killers," although other sources have said it means "Ace to Kill" or "Aim to Kill." A representative for Yungeen Ace and Ksoo disputed all of these definitions in an email after this article was initially published, and Ace himself has avoided explaining ATK in public for years.
"Everybody keeps asking me, what ATK mean? Everybody come up with their own names," Ace said in a 2021 TikTok. "Don't nobody in the world know what ATK means.
"I got, like, everybody, all my fans, everybody in the world screaming ATK but nobody knows what they screaming for, you know what I'm saying?" he said. "So I don't really like telling people the meaning because there's a real meaning behind it."
KTA has been said to stand for "Kill Them All," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Editor's note: The meaning behind the name ATK has been clarified.
