DaBaby – Newly Released Security Footage Of Fatal 2018 Shooting Raises Questions About Rapper’s Self-Defense Claim

April 25, 2022 by Twila-Amoure McDaniel in Music with 0 Comments

DaBaby – Newly Released Security Footage Of Fatal 2018 Shooting Raises Questions About Rapper’s Self-Defense Claim

It looks like DaBaby’s past is catching up with him!

Never-before-seen security footage of DaBaby’s, born Jonathan Kirk, shooting incident that occured a few years ago surfaced online over the weekend and it seems to have put a hole in the 30-year-old rapper’s self-defense claim. On Nov. 5, 2018, DaBaby fatally shot 19-year-old Jaylin Craig while in a Charlotte-area Walmart. DaBaby has always claimed the shooting was in self-defense and he acted to protect himself and his family. According to the “Suge” rapper, he was approached by two young men who allegedly threatened him while he was shopping with his then-partner and their children. DaBaby’s side of the story is that he only fired his own gun, ultimately killing Craig, in an act of self-protection.

DaBaby

According to reports, the shooting investigation wrapped in June 2019. DaBaby was never prosecuted for Craig’s death and was only convicted of carrying a concealed weapon, which resulted in 12 months of probation with a suspended jail sentence. Despite the rap star always maintaining his innocence in the shooting, recently released security footage might tell a different story. In the clip that’s a little under 60-seconds long, DaBaby appears to be the instigator of the altercation.

Walmart surveillance footage shows Craig and his friend, Henry Douglas, entering the store around 6:30 p.m. on the day in question. In a recent interview, Douglas spoke about the shooting and shared that Craig initially spotted DaBaby, however, the pair of friends weren’t sure if it was really the rapper so they kept looking in his direction to figure out if it was him or not. According to Douglas, that’s when things went south and DaBaby mistook fans as people trying to start something with him. Douglas said,

“That’s what eventually started it; when he took it the wrong way. We were trying to see who you are, and he took it as somebody is looking at him with a problem.”

Douglas continued and said that despite him and Craig trying to defuse the situation, DaBaby appeared to be adamant about fighting them and suggested that they take things outside. According to Douglas, he agreed to do so but planned on leaving the premises with Craig once they exited the store. In the video, you can see Douglas turning away from the DaBaby (seemingly to walk outside) when the rapper unexpectedly launches into him, nearly tackling him to the ground. According to Bunting’s report, at one point during the fight,

“Craig reaches into the front of his waistband to pull out what appears to be a firearm.”

However, it’s unclear if he had any intentions of using it. Craig moves toward the men and “puts his left hand between the fighting pair, as if to pull them off one another,” the report adds. DaBaby eventually gets one of his hands away from Douglas and pulls out a concealed .40-caliber Glock from his waistband, shooting Craig one time in the side at close range. The footage then cuts to another angle and shows shoppers running away after DaBaby fires his weapon.

DaBaby shot and killed 19-year-old Jaylin Craig in 2018, a shooting the rapper claims was in self-defense.

New security footage obtained by Rolling Stone shows that DaBaby appears to be the aggressor, and contradicts key aspects of his version of events. https://t.co/TGZjJ0Da6o pic.twitter.com/M7kbKur3U9

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) April 25, 2022

DaBaby has mentioned the shooting a few times in his rap lyrics. In his 2020 hit “Rockstar,” he seemingly raps about his daughter witnessing the incident. He raps,

“My daughter a G, she saw me kill a n*gga in front of her before the age of two.”

During a recent interview, Craig’s family called DaBaby out for his actions and shared their hopes that the newly released footage will bring an independent investigation into how the case was handled by law enforcement. His mother said,

“I feel like they just swept it up under the rug. [DaBaby] knows what he did. I’m not doing this for no fame or anything, because at the end of the day, Jaylin Craig is gone.”

She added,

“I don’t look at him as no DaBaby. I look at him like, ‘You’re Jonathan Kirk and you murdered Jaylin Craig.’”

DaBaby has seemingly responded via Twitter to the footage making its way online.