A Hillsborough County jury convicted all four defendants, Isaiah Chance, Sean Gathright, Rashad Murphy, and Davion Murphy, of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder on May 12, 2026, in the shooting death of Charles Jones, the Jacksonville-based rapper known professionally as Julio Foolio [1]. The case proceeded to trial in Tampa on charges that the four men coordinated and carried out a targeted killing, with both counts surviving to the jury [1].
Jurors deliberated for more than seven hours before returning a unanimous verdict on all counts against all four defendants [1]. The prosecution presented the case as a coordinated, gang-related attack, and the jury returned guilty findings without splitting on any count or any defendant [1]. The verdict drew sustained national attention, in part because the victim was a rising figure in Florida's rap scene whose public profile had made the case widely covered in the months leading to trial [1].
Because the jury returned first-degree murder convictions, Florida law requires a penalty phase before the same jury [1]. The defendants face potential death sentences, and the penalty phase was set to begin with the same panel that returned the guilty verdicts [1]. No sentencing date has been formally entered in the public record reviewed for this report.
Post-trial proceedings will center on the penalty phase before any appellate posture is established. Defense counsel for the four defendants may raise objections during the penalty phase or move for post-conviction relief following sentencing, but no such filings were reported as of the verdict date [1].