Jury Convicts 4 in Julio Foolio Killing
A jury found four men guilty Friday in the julio foolio killing, convicting Isaiah Chance, Sean Gathright, Rashad Murphy and Davion Murphy of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges in the death of Jacksonville rapper Charles “Julio Foolio” Jones. Jones was killed June 23, 2024, in an ambush attack while celebrating his birthday.
The verdict moves all four defendants into the penalty phase, with court set to resume Monday at 1 p.m. Prosecutors tied the killing to an ongoing Jacksonville gang war and told jurors their evidence included text messages and social media posts they said showed planning and involvement.
Jones and the Tampa attack
Jones was killed in Tampa on June 23, 2024. Prosecutors said the violence spilled there from Jacksonville, where they said 6Block, Ace’s Top Killers and 1200 were in conflict.
During closing arguments, the prosecutor told jurors, “There is a real gang war going on in Jacksonville,” and added, “ATK and 1200 are at way with 6Block. It is blatant.” The prosecutor also said, “You see photographs of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady [on Rashad Murphy’s Instagram], the GOAT being posted...you see laughing emojis...there is nothing fun about the gang war in Jacksonville and on June 23 in 2024, this violence spilled into Tampa,”
Text messages in court
Prosecutors said text messages from the defendants helped lay out their case. They said Gathright and Chance were trying to figure out where Jones was in Tampa, and they showed text messages from Andrews, who booked the Airbnb in Tampa.
The evidence presented to jurors also included social media posts prosecutors linked to Rashad Murphy. His defense attorney argued that he could not be placed in Tampa at 4:40 a.m. on the day of the shooting based on the evidence presented.
Andrews case ahead
The Jones verdict comes after a related case in which a jury found Alicia Andrews guilty of manslaughter in October 2025 for acting as a lookout and tracking Jones’ location before he was killed. Andrews had been set to be sentenced in December 2025, but her attorneys filed an appeal alleging Judge Michelle Sisco was biased and that her conduct prevented a fair trial; on Jan. 29, Judge Kimberly Fernandez was named the new judge in that case.
For the four men now convicted in Jones’ killing, Monday’s penalty phase is the next step. The jury’s guilty verdict leaves the courtroom focus on punishment rather than guilt, and the defense still has a final chance to argue over what sentence each defendant should receive.
