Surveillance video of a shooting involving rapper DaBaby at a North Carolina Walmart in 2018 is shedding new light on what led up to the death of a 19-year-old man, according to a Rolling Stone report.
In 2018, Jaylin Craig was shot and killed at a Walmart in Huntersville. Huntersville Police said a fight had broken out before the incident.
In an Instagram video after the incident, the rapper indicated he was shopping for clothes for his daughter but never said a fight took place.
“Two dudes walk in on you and your whole family, threatening y’all, whip out on y’all, let me see what y’all going to do,” DaBaby said in the video. “When the story comes out and the footage comes out will show y’all how I was in there with my 1-year-old daughter and my 5-year-old, my baby mama, buying my baby some more winter clothes. A dude sees me buying baby clothes and wants to show me how tough he is.”
Video of the incident obtained by Rolling Stone raised some questions about DaBaby’s initial claim that Craig and another man had instigated the incident.
In the video, the rapper is seen throwing the first punch at Henry Douglas, a friend of Craig’s.
Craig appears to pull a firearm from his waistband. As he moves toward the scuffle, the video shows him attempting to pull the two men away from each other.
DaBaby appears to break free from the fight long enough to pull out a gun from his waistband and shoot Craig.
The rapper, whose real name is Jonathan Kirk, faced a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon, but the charge was dropped after a key witness failed to show up in Mecklenburg County Court.
Craig’s family told WJZY they were devastated when charges were dropped.
His parents said Jaylin was a fan of the rapper.
“We feel like we didn’t get any justice. To have the guy look at us in court with a smirk, like he won that battle,” mom Lawana Horsley said.
The family was left heartbroken after the charges were dropped.
“Angry, upset,” said Jaylin’s father, Curtis Craig.
Jaylin’s parents said they saw the security video that showed their son trying to diffuse the fight before he was shot and killed.
The family says a key witness, a Walmart employee, did not show up to court to testify. Also not seen in court was the Walmart security video.
DaBaby did not speak to the media when he left the courtroom in 2019 after his charge was dropped.
The district attorney said at the time that no other charges would be filed in the deadly shooting.
The 2018 incident resurfaced last year after comedian Dave Chappelle mentioned Kirk in his standup special called, The Closer. “I hope to negotiate the release of DaBaby.”
“He once shot and killed a [man] in Walmart in North Carolina,” the comedian added. “And nothing bad happened to his career. Do you see where I’m going with this? In our country, you can shoot and kill an (expletive), but you better not hurt a gay person’s feelings.”
The rapper was involved in another shooting in North Carolina earlier this month.
According to police, a man was shot outside Kirk’s mansion in Troutman on April 13.
Officers responded to DaBaby’s property on Stillwater Road around 7:45 p.m. to the report of a shooting. There, they found a man suffering from a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his lower body, authorities said.
He was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Josh Watson, the Troutman Chief of Police, told Queen City News that only two other people were around when the man was shot, DaBaby and another person. Police have not identified which of the two pulled the trigger.
A 911 call that was released on Thursday afternoon in connection to Wednesday’s shooting, indicates the person who was shot may have unlawfully entered the property. Listen below:
Chief Watson said the incident happened on the property, not inside the home.
“It’s a large property, on the roadside, there’s a significantly tall concrete-type wall and it’s surrounded by on the other sides by a pretty high chain link fence,” Chief Watson said.
Chief Watson would not say if DaBaby knew the man who was shot.
DaBaby appeared to respond to the April shooting two days later in an Instagram post.
“I chose not to take a (expletive) life the other day & it felt great,” he said. “Buddy ain’t deserve to go, I step righteously. Heal up & live my boy! Just don’t bring ya (expletive) back.”