A suspect charged with Folio’s murder is seeking his own trial.
Lawyers for Rashad Murphy, one of the suspects in the 2024 murder of rapper Foolio, filed a supplemental memorandum on Thursday (March 5) requesting that he be tried separately from his co-defendants in his upcoming trial, or at least have a different jury, according to documents obtained by XXL. The court held a hearing on the motion last month but did not rule.
Murphy’s attorneys filed a revised memorandum on Friday (March 6) in response to the court’s direction that evidence from another shooting involving Murphy’s co-defendants may be admitted against all defendants. That would happen if the judge determines the evidence is “inseparable” from the charges related to Foolio’s killing.
“Florida law requires an analysis of defendant-specific relevance and bias in a joint trial, and Rashad Murphy respectfully submits this supplemental memorandum to address this issue,” the motion reads.
Rashad Murphy is one of five people charged with Forio’s murder, along with Alicia Andrews, Isaiah Chance, Sean Garthright and Davion Murphy. On June 23, 2004, the Jacksonville, Florida, rapper was shot and killed by three masked gunmen while celebrating his birthday in Tampa, Florida.
In October 2025, Andrews was found guilty of manslaughter in connection with Foolio’s killing, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Her sentencing was delayed after the original judge was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in January for bias. Andrews’ new sentencing hearing is now scheduled for December 8.
Meanwhile, four other murder suspects – Rashad, Davion, Isaiah and Sean Garthlet – appeared in court on Wednesday (March 4), where a judge denied several motions, including some Florida statutes, the death penalty and victim impact evidence. You can watch video of the court hearing below.
See Rashad Murphy’s memo calling for Foolio murder trial to have its own trial
See Law & Trials video of Foolio murder suspect’s multiple motions denied at court hearing
See the current status of each murdered rapper’s case
XXL looks back at the current state of hip-hop murders over the past 39 years.
