Rapper Lil Baby and his lawyers denied he had any involvement in a fatal shooting last summer that killed two teenagers, after the Atlanta Police Department earlier this week seemed to refer to him, accusing a “cowardly” Atlanta-based rapper of sparking a gang conflict by filming a music video in a rival gang’s territory.
Lil Baby told fans not to believe "fake news" on his Instagram story. (Photo by Astrida ... [+]
Drew Findling and Marissa Goldberg, attorneys representing Lil Baby, whose real name is Dominique Jones, told Forbes Friday morning the Atlanta police’s “obvious reference” to the rapper is “complete and total nonsense,” adding he had “absolutely no involvement” in last summer’s shooting.
Though Atlanta police did not name Lil Baby in their press conference, multiple local Atlanta outlets reported he was named in arrest warrants issued for seven men that have been arrested in connection with the shooting.
Findling and Goldberg said the decision on where to shoot a music video is one made by a creative team, not solely Lil Baby, and the suggestion the rapper could not shoot a music video in his hometown is “disgraceful.”
Lil Baby posted on his Instagram story Thursday night, where he has more than 23 million followers, thanking fans for their concern and urging fans not to “be misinformed by fake news.”
Forbes has reached out to the Atlanta Police Department for comment.
At a press conference Wednesday, Atlanta police officers said the fatal shooting was a result of “grown men playing gangster.” Without naming Lil Baby, the officers claimed the gang violence was sparked by an “Atlanta-based rapper who decided to go over into a rival gang stronghold and shoot a music video in a place he knew he should not have been.” Fox 5 Atlanta reported Lil Baby shot a music video in May 2024 in a part of the city known to be frequented by the street gang Only My Family, which police told the outlet has historically clashed with 4 Pockets Full, which police reportedly said in arrest warrants is a gang Lil Baby leads. Three people were shot during Lil Baby’s video shoot, Fox 5 Atlanta reported, though all survived, but police said the incident sparked continuous violence between the two gangs. Fox 5 Atlanta, citing arrest warrants, reported two teenagers—13-year-olds Lamon Freeman and JaKody Davis—were shot and killed shortly after 12:30 a.m. on July 2 as a result of gang violence between the two gangs. The arrest warrants reportedly say Davis and his brother, who was shot in the foot, had left their apartment to wish Freeman, who had turned 13 years old minutes before, a happy birthday. At the conference, police announced the arrests of seven men they say were involved in the fatal shooting: Quiyontay Sanders, Richard Hollis, Reginald Thomas, Dekeitheon Mobley, Markus Crawford, Tradon Crawford and Ali Caldwell.
Lil Baby, 30, is a rapper who broke through in the United States with his first album, “Harder Than Ever,” in 2018, supported by the top-10 single “Yes Indeed” with Drake. He had the best-selling album of 2020 in the United States, Billboard reported, with “My Turn,” which earned multiple Grammy nominations for the George Floyd-inspired protest song “The Bigger Picture.” He visited the White House on the one-year anniversary of Floyd’s killing in 2021, where he met with former Vice President Kamala Harris. The rapper won his first and only Grammy Award in 2022 for his song “Hurricane” with Kanye West and The Weeknd. He released his fourth album “WHAM” last month and is scheduled to launch a world tour in June.
Lil Baby was previously arrested on a cannabis possession charge in France in 2021, but was released the following morning and fined. He was arrested in 2024 in Las Vegas for allegedly carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, but his charge was later dropped.
Arrest warrant confirms Atlanta rapper Lil Baby's connection to boys' murders (Fox 5 Atlanta)