JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The state made their closing arguments Wednesday in the trial of Hakeem Robinson, the Jacksonville rapper also known as Ksoo, and his co-defendant, Leroy Whitaker, also known as ATK Scotty. 

The two men are on trial for the murder of Charles McCormick, who was shot dead at a shopping center on Merrill Road in 2020. Prosecutors say Ksoo ambushed and shot him, while Whitaker was in the getaway car with a loaded gun and also prepared to shoot. 

Whitaker is also charged for a violent home invasion after the crime, when prosecutors say he was running from police.

Throughout the trial, attorneys for both defendants have stressed to the jury that they find the state’s star witnesses to be untrustworthy. The state offered plea deals to two accomplices in the case: Ksoo’s father, Abdul Robinson Sr., and Dominique Barner. 

Both witnesses have pleaded guilty to a separate murder of a Jacksonville man. They testified Robinson Sr. paid Barner to kill someone, and he missed and shot Damon Rothermel. 

The two are testifying in exchange for shortened sentences in both murder cases. 

Robinson Sr. told the jury that he recognized his son in video of the shooting. He also said he testified that he picked up Whitaker and Barner from the scene of a house they hid in after the crime, and burned the clothes they were wearing.

Defense attorneys argued that both Robinson Sr. and Barner are motivated only by the promise of getting out of jail, and are both violent and untrustworthy. 

On the stand, Barner testified he has lied to police and during testimony in the past, including under oath. When asked by Ksoo’s defense attorney Chris DeCoste if his plea deal would hold up if he did not identify the shooter as his son, Robinson Sr. answered that it would not.

However, during his closing argument, Assistant State Attorney Joel Cooper argued that even if the jury agrees with these points, it doesn’t matter. 

Cooper noted that he was not asking jurors to “like” Robinson Sr. when considering his testimony; and he pointed to Robinson Sr.’s testimony as evidence. But he told the jury that the state does not “need” Robinson Sr.’s testimony to prove the defendants are guilty. 

He instead pointed to DNA evidence, cell phone records, social media posts, fingerprints and evidence of motive. 

Assistant State Attorney Alan Mizrahi later said in his rebuttal to Whitaker’s closing that the case will hold up without Barner. 

He noted, however, that Barner would be foolish to lie, saying that he could still be sentenced to life in prison after the case. Finding out Barner lied would result in a much harsher sentence, Mizrahi said.