{"id":74720,"date":"2025-07-19T06:43:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T06:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/74720\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T06:43:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T06:43:10","slug":"jury-selection-begins-monday-in-high-profile-murder-trial-of-jacksonville-rapper-affiliate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/74720\/","title":{"rendered":"Jury selection begins Monday in high-profile murder trial of Jacksonville rapper, affiliate"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 The stage is set for one of Jacksonville\u2019s most highly anticipated murder trials.<\/p>\n

Jacksonville rapper Hakeem Robinson<\/a>, better known by his stage name \u201cKsoo,\u201d is heading back to court Monday morning as jury selection is set to begin in a case that\u2019s drawn national attention \u2014 and stirred deep tensions in the city\u2019s rap and gang communities.<\/p>\n

Robinson, 26, and co-defendant Leroy Whitaker, 24, appeared in court Friday for what\u2019s expected to be their final pretrial hearing.<\/p>\n

Defendants Hakeem Robison and Leroy Whitaker in court for final pretrial (Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

Both face murder and gun charges in connection with two deadly shootings: the 2020 shooting death of 23-year-old Charles \u201cLil Buck\u201d McCormick Jr<\/b><\/a>., and the 2019 shooting death of 16-year-old-Adrian \u201cLil Bibby\u201d Gainer Jr<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s hearing, involving the murder of McCormick, was packed with motions and arguments, as Judge Tatiana Salvador reviewed filings from both the defense and the state. <\/p>\n

RELATED | Jail phone calls from man expected to testify against Jacksonville rapper \u2018Ksoo\u2019 in murder trial released to defense<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

One key question still hanging in the air: Will there be a single jury for both defendants, or will each have their own? Judge Salvador said she needs more time before making that call, and is expected to make the decision Friday afternoon. <\/p>\n

RELATED | Attorney for Jacksonville rapper \u2018Ksoo\u2019 may seek civil suit due to alleged jail conditions<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

One major development is that prosecutors are no longer pursuing enhanced charges tied to criminal gang affiliation \u2014 a significant shift in the state\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n

Initially, Robinson\u2019s brother, Abdul Kareem Robinson Jr., was also set to be tried alongside him, but the judge has since severed his case, meaning he\u2019ll face a separate trial.<\/p>\n

Trio charged in murder trial of Charles McCormick trial delayed until summer. (Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

The murder of McCormick has been at the center of Jacksonville\u2019s escalating gang violence, tied to rival factions including ATK, KTA, 6block, and NHG. Prosecutors allege that Hakeem Robinson was the triggerman in McCormick\u2019s killing. <\/p>\n

Charles McCormick (Lil Buck) (Screenshot via Instagram)<\/p>\n

They plan to present an image, recorded by a dash cam, that they claim places him at the scene. But Robinson\u2019s legal team disputes the photo\u2019s relevance, arguing that the person shown is too small to be Robinson.<\/p>\n

The case also involves a complex web of co-defendants and witness deals. Dominique Barner, who admitted to driving the getaway car, took a plea deal and told investigators that Robinson wanted McCormick dead for allegedly dissing his slain half-brother, Willie Addison, who was killed in a 2019 drive-by shooting.<\/p>\n

Booking photo of Dominique Barner (Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office)<\/p>\n

Hakeem\u2019s father, Abdul Robinson Sr., was arrested and accused of helping them escape after the shooting. <\/p>\n

In a dramatic twist, Robinson Sr. later identified his son as the shooter after viewing dashcam footage of the incident. He\u2019s now expected to testify against his own sons and nephew in court.<\/p>\n

RELATED | <\/b>Jacksonville rappers are making music videos about real murders. Police and the mothers of victims are watching<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Abdul Robinson Sr. has pleaded guilty to fleeing and attempting to elude a law enforcement officer. (Copyright 2020 by WJXT News4Jax – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

After this trial concludes, Hakeem Robinson will face another murder trial, this time for the alleged killing of \u201cLil Bibby,\u201d Adrian Gainer Jr.<\/p>\n

Jury selection kicks off Monday at 9 a.m.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 The stage is set for one of Jacksonville\u2019s most highly anticipated murder trials. Jacksonville rapper…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":74721,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[52048,52049,5229,52053,52052,3188,723,52055,52047,7310,52054,52050,52051,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-74720","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-abdul-robinson-jr","9":"tag-abdul-robinson-sr","10":"tag-america","11":"tag-atk","12":"tag-charles-mccormick","13":"tag-fl","14":"tag-florida","15":"tag-foolio","16":"tag-hakeem-robinson","17":"tag-jacksonville","18":"tag-ktas","19":"tag-lil-bibby","20":"tag-lil-buck","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114878546122998799","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}