BBC Newsbeat
Getty ImagesRapper Lil Baby has described a link made between one of his music videos and the killing of two teenagers in the US as “nonsense”.
Jakody Davis and Lamon Freeman died following a gang-related shootout at Lamon’s 13th birthday party in Atlanta, Georgia, last summer.
And while city detectives did not name Lil Baby, real name Dominique Armani Jones, they said the boys had been innocent victims of a flare up of gang violence sparked by a “cowardly rapper” filming a video in rival territory.
In a statement via lawyers, Lil Baby, who spent weeks in the UK charts for Band4Band with Central Cee, said he had “absolutely no involvement” and branded the comments from police “shameful”.
During a press conference on Wednesday, detectives from City of Atlanta Police said how Jakody and Lamon weren’t the intended targets of the shooting at the Sparks Street apartment complex in the city on 2 July 2024.
They detailed how the attack had been “orchestrated” from prison and involved members of “one of the most hyperviolent gangs in the city of Atlanta”.
‘Cowardly acts’
Addressing reporters, Maj Ralph Woolfolk said “the overall theme of this case is grown men playing gangster that left two of our children in graves and our communities in fear”.
“Lamon Freeman was allowed to be a teenager for 27 minutes before gang violence ultimately took his life, gang violence that was orchestrated by adults and cowardly acts of an Atlanta-based rapper.”
The rapper, he said, “decided to go over into a rival gang stronghold and shoot a music video in a place that he knew he should not have been.
“And in the subsequent days, we saw homicides and shootings and ultimately the deaths of two children as a result of his cowardly actions.”
In the months before Lamon and Jakody were shot, Atlanta police said they responded to several people being shot during a video shoot.
Nobody was killed but three men in their 20s were injured in the attack in the north west of the city on 14 May which was widely reported to have taken place on set for one of Lil Baby’s videos.
Lil Baby’s statement said it was “disgraceful” for the officer “to say that he couldn’t shoot a music video in his home town”.
“The location for a major music video shoot is a decision made by a professional team and is not a decision made by any individual.”
Maj Woolfolk told reporters the attack which killed Lamon and Jakody was a “hit called by a high-ranking gang member on the opposite side of that opposing rapper’s gang”.
He did not name Lil Baby but said “you know who you are” which Lil Baby’s lawyer called an “obvious reference” that was “complete and total nonsense”.
“Bringing his name into a conversation regarding a terrible crime for which he had absolutely no involvement is unprofessional, unethical and shameful,” his legal team said.
“Dominique is devastated about the situation because those children came from the same neighbourhood he did and he will continue to build up his community in any way he can.”
The 30-year-old won a Grammy in 2022 for best melodic rap act after featuring on Kanye West’s track Hurricane with The Weeknd.
Last year he featured on Central Cee’s track Band4Band – it was nominated for a Mobo Award and is in the running to win a Brit for song of the year on Saturday.
BBC Newsbeat has contacted Lil Baby’s team and Atlanta Police for further comment.
