Club promoter is indicted in killing of Migos rapper Takeoff
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A DJ and club promoter accused of killing Migos rapper Takeoff was indicted by a grand jury Thursday on a murder charge, court records show. Police arrested Patrick Xavier Clark, 33, in December on charges he shot and killed Takeoff, whose real name was Kirsnick Khari Ball, after a private party at a Houston bowling alley Nov. 1.
The indictment alleges that Clark did “unlawfully, intentionally and knowingly commit the felony offense of deadly conduct by knowingly discharging a firearm at and in the direction of” Takeoff.
The indictment means the grand jury in Harris County, Tex., found there was enough evidence to formally charge Clark, who is next scheduled to appear in court in August.
Police said at the time of his death that Takeoff had been an “innocent bystander” near an argument outside the bowling alley after what was described as a “lucrative” dice game. Roughly 30 people were outside the venue at the time of the shooting, and Takeoff, who was confirmed dead at the scene, was not involved in the confrontation or dice game, police said.
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He was 28.
Migos rapper Kirshnik Khari Ball, known as Takeoff, was fatally shot in Houston on Oct. 31 at a private party at a bowling alley. He was 28. (Video: Allie Caren/The Washington Post)
“We have too many young men of color that are being injured or fatally killed and their future is cut off and family members and friends are left to mourn,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said at the time. “This does not have to be our reality, and it need not be our future.”
Takeoff performed in Migos with his uncle Quavo, 32, and Offset, 31. The three Atlanta rappers’ debut single “Versace,” released in 2013, was deemed “the real song of summer” at the time by Washington Post critic Chris Richards.
The Grammy-nominated group is also known for songs including “MotorSport,” “Walk It Talk It” and “Bad and Boujee,” the first Migos song to rise to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Quavo has described the trio’s youngest member as being the best lyricist of the group. The nephew and uncle came out with their own album, “Only Built for Infinity Links,” a month before Takeoff’s death under the moniker Unc & Phew.
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Clark, a DJ and nightclub promoter, has been under house arrest after posting a $1 million bond in January. Clark’s attorney Letitia Quinones-Hollins did not immediately respond to a request for comment but said in a statement to Houston Public Media that the indictment was not unexpected.
“When we get inside a courtroom and in front of a jury,” Quinones-Hollins said, “where we will be able to put on our evidence and cross-examine the state’s witnesses — where the standard of proof is guilt beyond reasonable doubt — we expect the jury will come back with a verdict of not guilty.”
Police have said that video evidence, forensic analysis and scene reconstructions helped them identify Clark as the suspected shooter.
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Source: The Washington Post
