JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In a five-hour long bond hearing Thursday, detectives from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Tampa Police Department testified about six years of gang-related killings in Jacksonville and their connection to the death of Jacksonville rapper Charles Jones, aka Foolio. 

Foolio was killed outside of a hotel in Tampa on June 23. Three accused shooters and two accused accomplices have been arrested in the shooting; Davion Murphy, 27, was the subject of Thursday’s hearing. But another name came up throughout the hearing — someone who is not charged in the case at all.

Keyanta Bullard, a Jacksonville rapper who goes by Yungeen Ace, was central to the narrative of a gang rivalry that police believe led to Foolio’s death in the ambush shooting. 

Bullard is not charged with any crimes in this case, or any crimes in Florida at this time. He was arrested on a gun possession charge in Jacksonville Beach last year, but the charges were dropped. The Office of the State Attorney 13th Judicial Circuit, which serves Hillsborough County, says that the State is building their case in Foolio’s murder based only on the facts and evidence law enforcement have brought to them. Based on the evidence currently at their disposal in this case, the State has not pursued charges against Bullard.

At a press conference following Foolio’s death, Jacksonville officials were asked about Bullard’s potential involvement.

“Yungeen Ace has long been known in Jacksonville,” Sheriff T.K. Waters said. “We are consistently monitoring those groups. We have people that are always watching them.” 

He said there is no investigation into Yungeen Ace at this time. “But he can’t move around in Jacksonville without us knowing about it. And that’s for the betterment of our community,” said Waters.

However, Bullard was the subject of a chunk of testimony Thursday. First, both JSO detectives and TPD detectives presented evidence that they believe the shooters in this case were part of a street gang called 1200, affiliated with Jacksonville gang ATK — which one officer said is believed to stand for “Ace’s Top Killers.” Police say this gang is on one side of a deadly rivalry with two gangs affiliated with each other, 6block and Bully Gang. 

“I’ve been employed by the sheriff’s office since 2016,” Detective Richard Peter with the JSO Gang Unit said on the stand. “And I believe since at least 2016 this war’s been going on.” 

The State provided an exhibit showing a chart of alleged gang members — with the top tier labeled “Ace’s Crew.” Peter identified several people on the slide; he said that while these gangs do not have set leaders, he would identify Bullard as one of them.

In December, Hillsborough County Judge Michelle Sisco ruled that past killings in Jacksonville could be used to tie the suspects to the murder and to demonstrate the bigger picture that set the stage for the crimes. During Thursday’s hearing, the State began invoking past crimes, questioning police about incidents stretching back to June 2018 — when a car with Bullard inside was fired on, resulting in the death of Bullard’s brother and two friends. He was also struck in the shooting, but survived his injuries.

Police testified that the shooter in that case (who was never caught) was affiliated with the 6block/Bully Gang side, and retaliation for that shooting spiraled into a continued rivalry with 6block, of which they believe Foolio was one of the highest ranked members. 

While police implied Bullard’s involvement throughout their testimony, the most direct link to the case they presented were two of his songs.

The first was his viral song “Who I Smoke” with fellow Jacksonville rapper Spinabenz — real name Noah Williams, who was presented as a documented gang member during his own trial.

The song references the killings of Adrian Gainer, nickname Bibby, who was Foolio’s younger brother, as well as two others. Police say the purpose of the song is to disrespect the real murder victims, and the song demonstrates gang involvement.

The other song presented Bullard’s song “Game Over,” released on June 28, five days after the shooting. During his testimony, Peter was asked about the song. He read through the lyrics line-by-line, saying the lyrics were describing Foolio’s killing. Examples included the opening lyric, “Five in the morning, got a call, what is this”; Peter said this references the time that Foolio was killed. 

They also discussed a notorious photo police say shows 6block and Bully Gang members — including Foolio — posing around the grave of Royale De’Von Smith Jr., who was killed in the Town Center shooting. In “Game Over,” Ace says, “plenty (explicit) went to that grave and took a picture, they got hit.” Peter explained that the man in the photo, Lareno Spann (nickname La Cracka), was the victim of a shooting which he survived, and another, Julian House (nickname Rico Osama) was killed last year. First Coast News also reported on the shooting death of Jayquan Pickens, a Bully Gang rapper who performed under the name Jake Jhitt, who was also in the picture.

Several other lyrics were highlighted, including the repeated mention of “Mr. 6,” which was a nickname by which Foolio referred to himself.

The State used this evidence to argue that Foolio was killed as part of this gang war and that Bullard has explicitly linked the killing to ATK and 1200. The judge ruled that in part due to his gang ties, Murphy would not be granted bond.