TAMPA, Fla. — The jury is now tasked with determining the outcome for 22-year-old Alicia Andrews, who stands accused of participating in the planning of an ambush that led to the death of Jacksonville rapper Julio Foolio in Tampa last year.

On Thursday, Andrews provided her testimony, claiming she was fearful of her boyfriend, Isaiah Chance. Prosecutors allege that Chance played a significant role in orchestrating the fatal attack. Andrews maintained that she was unaware of any murder plans.

The prosecution, however, contends that Andrews was more than a bystander in the June 2024 incident. They assert that she functioned as a lookout, aiding her boyfriend and others in monitoring Foolio’s whereabouts on the night he was gunned down outside a Tampa Holiday Inn.

The violent encounter was recorded by multiple security cameras, capturing the gunfire of the ambush.

Andrews told jurors she thought the group was going to get food, and that she stayed in the car, unaware of what was happening.

“I mean, I heard a lot of shots so I didn’t know what went on — shooting in the air, somebody got shot at, I didn’t know,” Andrews said.

“Did you know somebody died?” the defense attorney asked.

Andrews testified that she never saw a gun that night and said she remains terrified of her boyfriend, who is also charged in the case.

“People [in jail] look at me sideways, ‘Oh, that’s your boyfriend? He said this, he told me to tell you this,’” Andrews testified. “It’s safety issues. Literally before I came to trial, the deputy told me one of my co-defendants was trying to have me jumped. So I just do what I have to do.”

But prosecutors questioned her credibility, showing jurors a 2021 text message where Andrews wrote that Foolio “needed to die.”

“Yeah but I didn’t mean it, I was 17 and just gossiping,” Andrews testified.

Prosecutors say the text reveals motive, and that Andrews’ lies during her police interrogation show consciousness of guilt. 

Her defense attorneys maintained she was trapped in an abusive relationship and didn’t know anything about a murder plot.

The courtroom grew tense during her testimony, with a shouting match erupting outside as accusations of gang ties flew.

Prosecutors say the killing was a revenge attack connected to an ongoing gang feud between rival Jacksonville groups. A total of five people have been charged in the case — Andrews is the first to stand trial.

Andrews was the final witness to testify. If convicted, she faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The jury began deliberations just before 7 p.m. Friday evening.