TAMPA, Fla. – Closing arguments began in the trial of a woman accused of stalking Charles Jones, a Jacksonville rapper known as “Julio Foolio.”
Alicia Andrews, 21, is the first of five people accused in the shooting to go to trial. She is the only defendant not facing the death penalty in the case.
Jones, 26, was shot and killed on June 23, 2024, in an ambush attack while celebrating his birthday in Tampa.
Court documents accuse Andrews, Isaiah Chance, Sean Gathright, Davion Murphy and Rashad Murphy of traveling from Jacksonville to Tampa on June 22, 2024, in two separate cars to find and kill Jones in retaliation for an ongoing Jacksonville gang war between 6Block and allied gangs, ATK and 1200.
Officials said Chance is a documented ATK member, Rashad Murphy is a 1200 member and Davion Murphy is a 1200 associate.
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Andrews took the stand Friday morning as her defense attempted to establish Chance, her boyfriend and one of the accused shooters, as “abusive and controlling,” leading up to her being present when Jones was shot and killed, but she was not aware of a murder plot.
The defense showed the jury images of bruises to Andrews’ face. The defense also showed text messages of him getting upset when she would post images of herself on Instagram.
She said she didn’t want to have disagreements with him because it could lead to him hitting her or breaking her phone.
On the day that Chance traveled to Tampa on June 22, 2024, she said she asked him what he was doing that day and he said he was “going out of town.” Andrews said she asked him if she could go and he told her to pack her things.
Andrews said she didn’t know that they were going to Tampa and that she had no knowledge of the murder plot.
She said they went to an Airbnb that she didn’t book and that they later went to two nightclubs, which were publicly advertised for Jones’ appearance.
Andrews said that Chance would take her phone and make calls, but she never knew to whom and she never asked him why. Court documents revealed that Chance was making those calls to codefendant Gathright’s phone, who traveled to Tampa in another car.
At the first nightclub they went to, she could be seen on a parking lot surveillance camera wearing a facemask, but she said that was to avoid the smoke in the air because she was pregnant at the time, not to conceal her identity.
Andrews maintained that Chance never told her that he was going to both clubs to look for Jones.
At this time, Andrews said Chance still had her phone communicating with Gathright and two other codefendants, Davion and Rashard Murphy. She said she didn’t hear any of the phone conversation.
The prosecution started its cross-examination with text messages from 2021 with her friend, in which one included Andrews saying that Jones “needed to die.” Andrews, who was 17 years old at the time, said that she was just “gossiping.”
The state pulled phone records that showed Andrews had been communicating with Chance multiple times a day while they were both in jail, accused of Jones’ murder. She said the topics ranged from the trial to the health of the baby.
Andrews said she was still calling him while they were in jail to “keep him happy” because she was still afraid of him.
Andrews said that she doesn’t consider herself and Chance in a relationship, but she added that he may think they still are.
The prosecution asked her why she was still afraid of him if he’s behind bars and she said she was told by a corrections officer that Chance tried to have her jumped by other inmates.
Closing Arguments
State said that Andrews is an active participant in the surveillance of Jones’ location. Andrews was used as “cover” for Chance.
“She is a trusted confidant of her boyfriend Isaiah Chance,” the state said.
The state said that Andrews is very knowledgeable of the gang wars and that “there is no love lost with Jones’ death.”
This story will be updated as closing arguments continue.
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