Photo: Instagram
Jacksonville rapper Ksoo and his cousin, ATK Scotty, have been convicted of murdering Charles McCormick after six days of grueling testimony.
On Thursday, July 31, a jury found Hakeem “Ksoo” Robinson and Leroy “ATK Scotty” Whitaker guilty of first-degree. During the trial, prosecutors argued that Robinson and Whitaker, along with their accomplice, Dominique Barner, conspired to kill McCormick in 2020. The state called on Robinson’s father, Abdul Robinson, Sr., to testify about his son's alleged involvement in the murder. According to First Coast News, the jury only spent three and a half hours deliberating before they reached a verdict.
Prosecutors argued Robinson and Whitaker, who are allegedly members of the Jacksonville gang ATK, were motivated by a diss track McCormick released, in which he made fun of a shooting that killed Ksoo’s stepbrother Willie Addison and injured his father, brother and cousin. Addison was killed by a member of 6block, a rival gang of ATK. They alleged Ksoo pulled the trigger and fired the deadly shot, but also stated that Whitaker was in the car with a loaded gun ready to pop off.
Robinson and Whitaker allegedly plotted with Barner to stalk McCormick, who’s a member of 6block, from his home to a temp agency in Jacksonville. After the shooting, prosecutors argued Robinson bragged about killing McCormick on social media and showed the posts to the jury. The rapper's attorneys denied the state’s allegations and asserted the rapper was not the man in the video. They also argued that their client's phone wasn’t connected to the crime, and no murder weapon was discovered. However, Robinson’s father, Abdul Robinson, Sr., identified his son in a security video that captured the scene in the moments leading up to the shooting.
According to Florida law, people who are convicted of first-degree murder are usually sentenced to life in prison. This isn’t the only crime Ksoo is allegedly involved with. He’s set to face another trial for the murder of Adrian Garner. He’s accused of killing Garner during a shooting, which is allegedly mentioned in Yungeen Ace’s song “Kso Homicide.”
Watch the judge address Ksoo after the verdict below.