FL v. Isaiah Chance, Sean Gathright, Rashad Murphy, and Davion Murphy: The Julio Foolio Murder Trial
Florida prosecutors say the killing of Jacksonville rapper Charles Jones, known as Julio Foolio, was not a spontaneous shooting but a coordinated hit tied to a long-running Jacksonville gang feud. Now, nearly two years after Jones was shot and killed outside a Tampa-area hotel while celebrating his 26th birthday, four co-defendants are on trial together in Hillsborough County, each facing first-degree murder charges and the possibility of a death sentence if convicted.
Who Is Involved
The defendants on trial are Isaiah Chance, Sean Gathright, Rashad Murphy, and Davion Murphy. All four have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in Jones’ death. Jones, who performed as Julio Foolio, had become a prominent and polarizing figure in Jacksonville rap, where prosecutors say music, street rivalries, and gang affiliations overlapped with real-world violence.
A fifth defendant, Alicia Andrews, is not part of this joint trial. Prosecutors previously accused her of helping Chance track Jones’ movements in Tampa. In October 2025, a jury found Andrews guilty of the lesser offense of manslaughter and not guilty of conspiracy. Her sentencing was later delayed, and a different judge was assigned after an appellate ruling removed the original trial judge from Andrews’ sentencing proceedings.
What Prosecutors Allege Happened
Investigators say the defendants traveled from Jacksonville to Tampa as Jones headed there for a birthday celebration. According to police and prosecutors, Chance and Andrews acted as scouts, tracking Jones and his entourage at multiple locations before the shooting. Authorities allege that once Jones’ group arrived at a hotel parking lot, three armed men got out of a vehicle and opened fire on cars connected to him. Jones was killed and three other people were wounded. Police identified the alleged shooters as Gathright, Rashad Murphy, and Davion Murphy.
The state’s theory is that the shooting grew out of a yearslong Jacksonville gang conflict. Jones was described by prosecutors as a documented member of “6 Block,” a group they say was in open conflict with ATK and 1200. Prosecutors contend the four men on trial were affiliated with either ATK or 1200, and that the killing was a targeted, gang-related attack rather than a chance encounter.
The Investigation and Arrests
The murder happened on June 23, 2024. A month later, Tampa police announced the first arrests and named additional suspects they were still seeking. Authorities said the suspects had traveled from Jacksonville to Tampa the day before the killing and used tracking, surveillance, and follow-up investigation to carry out the attack. At that stage, Andrews, Chance, and Gathright were in custody, while Rashad Murphy and Davion Murphy were still being sought.
By August 2024, the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office was publicly describing the case as one involving multiple defendants charged in Jones’ killing, and the prosecution successfully sought to keep at least some of them jailed without bond pending trial.
Major Pretrial Developments
One of the most significant pretrial fights was whether the four men would be tried together. Defense lawyers argued that a joint trial could unfairly prejudice jurors, especially if some statements or gang-related evidence applied to one defendant more than another. In late March 2026, however, a Hillsborough County judge denied motions to sever the case, keeping all four defendants in one trial before one jury.
That ruling followed hearings in February and March 2026 on several pretrial issues. The court examined whether certain messages tied to individual defendants could unfairly spill over onto others. The judge noted two messages that would not be admissible against all defendants, and the state indicated it would not seek to introduce them in the joint trial.
The Trial Ahead
Jury selection in the joint trial was set to begin in April 2026 in downtown Tampa. Because prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, jury selection was expected to focus heavily on whether potential jurors could fairly consider capital punishment in a four-defendant case. Reporting ahead of trial said hundreds of prospective jurors could be screened before a panel was seated.
Heading into trial, the case presents a broad prosecution narrative: a planned retaliatory killing carried out across county lines as part of an entrenched gang war. The defense posture is likely to be more individualized, with each defendant trying to separate himself from the others, from the state’s gang theory, or from the allegation that the trip to Tampa ended in a premeditated ambush. The central questions for jurors will be whether prosecutors can prove a murder conspiracy, who did what in the lead-up to the shooting, and whether the state can tie each defendant to the fatal attack beyond a reasonable doubt.
Key Dates and Developments
Charles Jones was killed on June 23, 2024, during what police described as a targeted shooting in Tampa. Arrests followed in July 2024, with police identifying three alleged shooters and alleging that Chance and Andrews helped locate Jones before the attack. In October 2025, Andrews was convicted of manslaughter in a separate trial. In March 2026, the court denied severance motions and kept the remaining four defendants together for one trial. By April 2026, the case had moved into jury selection, with all four men facing first-degree murder charges and potential death sentences.