A sixth suspect sought in the early 2020 shooting death of 23-year-old Charles Quentin McCormick in a Jacksonville shopping center has been tracked down to Atlanta, according to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.
Abdul Kareem Robinson Jr., 26, will be extradited back to Jacksonville where six others already await trial in the attack in the Dames Pointe Plaza at 7001 Merrill Road, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said.
While Robinson’s arrest completes the search for suspects in the death of McCormick, aka rapper Lil Buck, it is part of a larger inter-gang fight also waged via rap music videos, according to court records.
Some suspects also face murder charges in the Feb. 25, 2019, shooting death of 16-year-old rapper Adrian Gainer, aka Bibby, in the Hilltop Village Apartments, court records said.
McCormick was gunned down about 11 a.m. on Jan. 15, 2020, witnessed by an off-duty officer who said the gunman stood over the victim and shot him with a rifle before getting into a Nissan Altima, the warrant said. The officer chased the car until it crashed on nearby Townsend Boulevard, and three people inside ran away.
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Two of the men ran into a house where the homeowner tried to flee. But the men grabbed her by the neck, shoved her on a sofa and held her hostage before calling someone to get them, the warrant said. The intruders dressed in clothing found in her husband’s closet, then someone drove up and fled with the pair.
The ensuing police investigation saw 22-year-old Hakeem Armani Robinson arrested on Sept. 10 and charged with second-degree murder, police said. Hakeem Robinson’s 50-year-old father, Abdul Karim Robinson, also was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact.
The U.S. Marshals Service said Robinson Jr. is Hakeem Robinson’s brother, and a member of the ATK, or Ace’s Top Killers gang.
One by one arrests are made
Arrests continued with Dominique Jerrod Barner, 27, charged on March 19, 2020, with second-degree murder and aggravated fleeing an officer. Police also charged 23-year-old Janera Jaranee Smith with accessory after the fact, jail records show.
Investigators had found a rifle left in the Nissan along with a handgun when they searched the car, the warrant said. A fingerprint on the handgun was found to be Hakeem Robinson’s, while a hair found on a T-shirt nearby was also identified as his after a lab test.
Further investigation revealed photos of guns on Hakeem Robinson’s Instagram account, plus a music video by McCormick with the caption “Byeeee byeeee” and emojis of waving hands, the warrant said. Another video, also posted after McCormick’s death, showed Hakeem Robinson getting a pedicure as a caption read “Kill a n—– then go get my toes done.”
Barner told detectives he was driving the Nissan with Hakeem Robinson and Leroy G. Whitaker as they searched for McCormick “with the specific intent of killing him,” the warrant said. Barner said the reason for wanting McCormick dead was that he had made a song that “talked despairingly” about Hakeem Robinson’s dead brother, Willie Addison Jr.
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Addison, a rapper known as Boss Goon, was shot on Jan. 16, 2019, after he performed at a late-night rap music event at the Paradise Gentlemen’s Club at 8669 Baymeadows Road. Police said Addison and others left the club and were on Emerson Street when the shooting took place near Spring Park Road. Someone fired from another vehicle that pulled alongside their Chevrolet Tahoe, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Addison’s father, Abdul Robinson, was among those shot but not killed inside, according to news partner First Coast News. The Sheriff’s Office said that shooting “was a targeted act of violence against the occupants of the Tahoe.”
Deaths, retaliation intertwine
Just over a month after Addison’s death, 16-year-old Adrian Dennard Gainer Jr., a rapper known as Bibby, was shot dead in the Hilltop Village Apartments. Hakeem Robinson was also charged on March 10 with second-degree murder in that case, court records show.
The arrest warrant said Gainer and another man were in a gazebo at the complex at 1646 W. 45th St. at about 3 p.m. Surveillance video spotted a gray or silver Nissan Altima drive into the complex. A witness saw Hakeem Robinson and another man identified later as Whitaker get out with semi-automatic rifles and begin shooting, the warrant said.
Gainer and the other man heard gunfire, split up and tried to flee. A witness said he saw Gainer fall to the ground as he was shot, trying to protect himself, the warrant said.
“Robinson ran up to Bibby and shot him at close range in the back of the head or neck as Bibby continued trying to shield himself,” the warrant said.
Investigators found 45 shell casings at the crime scene. And Hakeem Robinson posted several photographs and videos “bragging about the murder of ‘Bibby,'” the warrant said. Community leaders and family members held a vigil for Gainer in that same gazebo days later.
Whitaker was arrested on April 15, 2020, on charges of home-invasion robbery and armed burglary at the home off Townsend Boulevard after McCormick was killed, court records show. A second-degree murder count was later added.
Meanwhile, Robinson Jr. remained at large. Then on June 24 the U.S. Marshals Service offered a $5,000 reward for information that led to his arrest. It said he was wanted by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office “for an ambush-style homicide,” according to its reward notice. The Marshals Service spelled his middle name as “Karim,” while the Sheriff’s Office has it as “Kareem” in his past arrest listings.
Fulton County Sheriff’s Office records show he was arrested Friday in the Atlanta area on a warrant for fugitive from justice on a murder charge, awaiting extradition back to Jacksonville.
dscanlan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4549
