Charles Jones, known professionally as Julio Foolio, had been shot at least three times in the past four years before being fatally shot in Tampa Sunday morning.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — After stirring headlines for years over his role in Jacksonville’s drill rap scene, Charles Jones, also known as Julio Foolio, is dead.
The Tampa Police Department (TPD) reports the Jacksonville rapper was shot and killed early Sunday morning at a Holiday Inn parking lot while celebrating his 26th birthday.
Foolio had millions of streams on YouTube, spread out over dozens of songs.
He was also a frequent face on First Coast News newscasts due to his connections with some of the violence around Jacksonville.
“It’s unfortunate, but once you get in that culture and that lifestyle, it’s kind of hard to get out,” said First Coast News Crime and Safety Expert Mark Baughman.
Here’s a timeline of known incidents the late rapper has been a part of.
February 2019 – Foolio started gaining attention when his brother, another Jacksonville rapper who went by ‘Bibby,’ was killed at an apartment complex in Moncrief.
July 2020 – The rapper was shot in Houston.
November 2021 – Foolio was shot in Riverside while getting out of a car – famously posting during his recovery stating, “Y’all miss 100 shots.”
“He started gaining notoriety, he started gaining hits on social media,” said Baughman.
April 2022 – He was arrested for illegal tinted windows and fleeing police during a traffic stop.
October 2023 – Foolio was shot in the foot on 18th Street in Jacksonville. Police said it “appeared suspects were waiting for him and ambushed.”
“There was no off ramp for him at this point,” said Baughman. “Some of the things he said and had done had been memorialized over and over and over again. In some ways, he was held in high esteem, but he was also creating himself to be a big target, too.”
It all culminated this weekend, when Foolio was shot and killed, and three others were left injured in the shooting.
The rapper’s attorney said he stayed in an Airbnb, but was asked to leave when his party went over the occupancy limit.
Tampa Police say they were called to the Holiday Inn on East Fowler Avenue just before five o’clock in the morning, where they found two cars riddled with bullet holes.
“Everybody is worried about retaliation or retribution,” said Baughman. “They always are. Unless you’re looking at a ton of time in prison, that’s when you’ll get people talking. You get somebody trying to mitigate their situation and says, ‘I can give you this.'”
Baughman says the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office will play a role in TPD’s investigation despite the shooting happening in Tampa. He also says authorities will be on the lookout for another domino to fall following Foolio’s death.
“A total disrespect for one another, and then that disrespect fuels that anger, and then you have a blatant disregard for life at that point,” said Baughman.
Tampa Police said this is an active investigation, as they figure out what led up to the shooting.
No suspect information has been released at this point.
