TAMPA, Fla. — Florida State Representative Michele Rayner appeared in court Monday on behalf of one of the suspects in the murder of Jacksonville rapper Charles Jones, aka Foolio.

Rayner will represent Sean Gathright, 18, who is one of five suspects in Jones’s murder.

Gathright is accused of being one of three shooters who unloaded 

Gathright, 18, lives on the northside of Jacksonville. Officials did not say whether he was affiliated with a Jacksonville gang. He faces a first degree premediated murder charge and three attempted murder charges. He also faces a charge of tampering with evidence. 

According to officials, Gathright was one of the three shooters that killed Foolio. 

Gathright was arrested at a Jacksonville shopping center. 

n June 26, JSO officers conducted a traffic stop on Gathright and located a Glock 9mm semiautomatic pistol in the center console, records state. A further search of the vehicle located .223 rifle live rounds and nine rifle spent casings. The pistol did not match the casings recovered from the scene of Jones’ murder.

However, documents say the rifle casings found inside Gathright’s vehicle were a presumptive match to two prior shootings, a May homicide and a shooting on Oct. 7, 2023, which was an earlier attempt to kill Jones. 

After a search through Gathright’s residence, investigators located a gun safe with multiple rifles including at least one equipped with a brass catcher consistent with the one used for Jones’ murder. Documents state that spent 9mm shell casings were also found in the safe which was a presumptive match to the casings found at the scene of Jones’ murder.

Documents detail additional evidence including Ring camera video capturing Gathright, Chance, Andrews and Davion Murphy at an Airbnb in Tampa roughly one mile away from the scene of Jones’ murder. The Airbnb reservation was booked from June 22 to June 24 under the name Rashad Murphy, the fifth suspect, according to court records. 

Investigators also said video from Gathright’s house showed him and Chance loading bags “big enough to carry rifles” inside the black Chevy Impala in the afternoon before the trip to Tampa.

Gathright, Chance and Andrews were all arrested by JSO less than a week after Jones’ murder. Rashad Murphy was arrested on July 30 at the Collins Preserve apartments in Jacksonville’s Ortega area.