Jackson County sheriff’s officials said a recent shooting was gang-related, but it turned out to be fueled by a disagreement between two rival rap groups, an investigator said.
“From what we’ve been able to determine, they have no formal affiliation with any local or national street gang,” Jackson County Investigator Jason Pharez told the Sun Herald. “This is basically two competing rap groups, if you will. None of them claim gang affiliation and we can’t find any definite proof there was any underlying criminal activity.”
The April 18 shooting led to eight arrests — five of whom were former football standouts at St. Martin High School .
The Sun Herald reached to find out more about the case after reviewing court papers where the attorneys for the alleged offenders say they are not gang members.
Instead, the suspects are members or friends of two rival rap groups — one known as Fu Fam and the other called Ban Runna Gang, aka BRG.
The shooting happened, Pharez said, after the rappers got into an argument over lyrics in some of the music when they met up to try to hash it out.
The shooting started, the investigator said, after some of the members instigated an argument that escalated until shots were fired from different vehicles.
“All of these guys went to school together and most played football or basketball together,” Pharez said. “They had hung out with each other ….before this.”
The shooting happened near McClellan Road off Washington Avenue in St. Martin.
Two of the suspects, Jimon Dixon and Quincy Brown, were shot and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Those arrested and their charges are:
- Dixon, 21, of Pascagoula, and a former football player at St. Martin High School, charged with armed carjacking, aggravated assault and shooting into a motor vehicle.
- Tyler Polk, 22, of Biloxi, and a former St. Martin quarterback who now plays college football in Arkansas, charged with aggravated assault and shooting into motor vehicle.
- Jayce Franklin, 20, of St. James Parish in Louisiana, and a former St. Martin football and basketball player, charged with aggravated assault and shooting into a motor vehicle.
- Jo’Vawn ‘Ham’ McGee, 19, of Gulfport, and a former star running back at St. Martin, charged with aggravated assault and shooting into a motor vehicle.
- Keni “Ham” Williams, 19, of Biloxi, and a former star running back at St. Martin, charged aggravated assault and shooting into a motor vehicle.
- Quincy Brown, 20, of Pascagoula, charged with aggravated assault, armed carjacking and shooting at a motor vehicle.
- Cedric Porter, 20, of Ocean Springs,charged with aggravated assault and shooting into a motor vehicle.
- Jalin Stallworth, 20, of Moss Point, charged with aggravated assault and shooting at a motor vehicle. He was previously arrested on charge of aggravated assault in Moss Point.
Since the shooting and arrests that followed, members of the group, BRG, have created a new video that addresses their arrests.
Margaret Baker is an investigative reporter whose search for truth exposed corrupt sheriffs, a police chief and various jailers and led to the first prosecution of a federal hate crime for the murder of a transgendered person. She worked on the Sun Herald’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Hurricane Katrina team. When she pursues a big story, she is relentless.