Atlanta police have charged a 22-year-old with murder in the fatal shooting of Chicago rapper King Von outside a downtown nightclub Friday morning.
King Von, whose real name was Dayvon Bennett, was among six people shot when a fight outside the Monaco Hookah Lounge erupted in gunfire, police said. He was 26.
On Saturday, investigators said they secured warrants charging Timothy Leeks with murder in Bennett’s death.
“Mr. Leeks is in police custody at Grady Hospital where he is undergoing treatment for a gunshot wound,” Atlanta police spokeswoman Marla Jean Rooker told AJC.com. “The homicide of Bennett is closed with this arrest.”
Police initially said Bennett was among three people killed in the shooting, but investigators clarified Saturday that two people were killed while a third remains in critical condition. The names of the additional victims have not been released, and it’s still unclear who shot them.
The GBI is investigating the incident as an officer-involved shooting after Atlanta police working in the area attempted to intervene in the shootout.
Two of the officers were in uniform working off-duty security jobs at the hookah lounge, and a third was on-duty nearby, according to police. None of the officers were injured.
Authorities said Bennett was fatally wounded in the club’s parking lot prior to the officers' involvement.
Surveillance footage posted to Twitter on Friday appears to show the shooting during a brawl outside the nightclub. In the video, a large group is seen leaving the club as punches are thrown. The group scatters after one man steps out from behind an SUV and begins firing, striking what appears to be at least two people. One of the victims, presumably Bennett, is then loaded into a car and driven away from the scene.
Moments after Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were projected to be the next President and Vice President of America, Anderson Cooper asked his co-host Van Jones to give his thoughts.
"It's easier to be a parent this morning. It's easier to tell your kids character matters. It matters ... telling the truth matters. Being a good person matters," Jones said, while fighting back tears. "And it's easier for a whole lot of people. If you're a Muslim in this country, you don't have to worry if the president doesn't want you here. If you're an immigrant you don't have to worry if the president is going to have babies snatched away or send Dreamers back for no reason. This is vindication for a lot of people who have really suffered."
You know the 'I can't breathe?' That wasn't just George Floyd. That was a lot of people that felt they couldn't breathe," he continued. "Every day you're waking up and you're getting these tweets, and you just don't know. And you're going to the store, and people who have been afraid to show their racism are getting nastier and nastier to you. And you're worried about your kids. And you're worried about your sister. Can she just go to Walmart and just get back into her car without somebody saying something to her? And you spent so much of your life energy just trying to hold it together. This is a big deal, for us just to be able to get some peace, and have a chance for a reset. The character of the country matters, and being a good man matters."
CNN - Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States, CNN projects, after a victory in the state where he was born put him over the 270 electoral votes needed to win.
With Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes, Biden now has a total of 273 electoral votes.
Before becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Biden served as vice president under former President Barack Obama. He is also Delaware's longest-serving senator.
Throughout his campaign, Biden has argued that the "soul of the nation" is at stake, and has promised that he would seek to heal a country fractured by Trump's presidency.
Kamala Harris will be the United States’ next vice president.
She will be the first woman to hold the office. She will also be the nation’s first Black and South Asian vice president.
Harris, who has represented California in the Senate since 2017, is the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, and she grew up attending a Black Baptist church and a Hindu temple.
She was the first Indian-American and second Black woman to serve as a senator.
Take Money KO is preparing to release a new album titled "Dream Katxher" very soon. The first single off of the project is the araabMUZIK-produced banger, "Let It Go."
Noey NoGood is the latest artist to sign with Yung JB's Take Money Inc. label. Peep his new single titled "Slide On 'Em" featuring JB and Take Money KO.
Rochester, New York's legend in the making, Eto, drops off "Eto Brigante: The Movie," starring acclaimed "Scarface" actor Angel "ChiChi" Salazar and Jai Black.
The film features 4 music videos off of the "Eto Brigante" album, including "Eto Brigante," "Old Hunnits," "Pool Hall Scene" and "The Last Call."
1. Eto Brigante (Prod. By Windsor James) 2. Old Hunnits (Prod. By Tre Eight) 3. Pool Hall Scene (Prod. By D.R.U.G.S.) 4. The Last Call (Prod. By V Don)
Boxing's most lucrative fighter is officially a free agent.
After many days of negotiations, representatives for Canelo Alvarez and Golden Boy Promotions have reached an agreement to release the four-time champion.
Eddy Reynoso, Alvarez's manager and trainer, confirmed the news in a statement and said Alvarez's free agency is effective as of Friday.
"All this time we have been working very hard in the gym with a lot of responsibility and discipline, to be in great physical shape and ready to fight this year and it will be!" Reynoso said in the statement.
A source told ESPN's Salvador Rodriguez that Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) and his team are targeting a return to the ring Dec. 19 against IBF super middleweight titlist Caleb Plant (20-0, 12 KOs), who fights for Premier Boxing Champions.
The situation between the middleweight champion, Golden Boy and DAZN has been sour since the battle between all parties spilled into court. In September, Alvarez filed a lawsuit in federal court citing a breach of contract on an 11-fight, $365 million deal signed in 2018. A subsequent mediation situation between all parties failed, and the suit was refiled after a technical error.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Key Republican lawmakers, including 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney, on Friday slammed President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that Democrats are trying to “steal” the election. But some GOP leaders struck a more neutral tone — and others urged the White House to fight.
Romney, now a senator from Utah, said Trump was within his rights to request recounts and call for investigations where evidence of irregularities exists.
But Trump “is wrong to say the election was rigged, corrupt and stolen,″ Romney said on Twitter. Trump’s claim ”damages the cause of freedom here and around the world ... and recklessly inflames destructive and dangerous passions,″ he said.
Romney is Trump’s most vocal critic within the Republican Party and voted to convict Trump in the president’s impeachment trial earlier this year.
His comments came as GOP Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania — whose state is a key battleground in the presidential election, where votes are still being tallied — called Trump’s claim of fraud “very disturbing.”
“There’s simply no evidence anyone has shown me of any widespread corruption or fraud,” Toomey told “CBS This Morning.”
“The president’s speech last night was very disturbing to me because he made very, very serious allegations without any evidence to support it,” said Toomey.
While he voted for Trump, “I want the next president to be the person who legitimately wins the Electoral College and I will accept whoever that is,″ Toomey said.
Trump, who has complained for weeks about mail-in ballots, escalated his allegations late Thursday, saying at the White House that the ballot-counting process is unfair and corrupt. Trump did not back up his claims with any details or evidence, and state and federal officials have not reported any instances of widespread voter fraud.
Check out the official music video for Vado's new single titled "Checkmate" featuring Dave East and Jim Jones. Let us know what you think of it in the comment section below.
Buffalo entrepreneur Struggle Mike of Struggle Clothing has a keen eye for talent and has been putting together some great compilation albums featuring some of the biggest artists from Upstate.
Mike's latest project, "Nxt Up," focuses on up and coming rappers.
With that in mind, check out the official music video for "Da Say" featuring Mack Millz and Jayoz.
Produced by Flexx Beats
"Nxt Up" is available now on all streaming platforms:
There is tragic news surfacing that rapper King Von was shot and killed in Atlanta last night.
According to reports, an argument between Von's crew and a rival group erupted outside of Atlanta's Monaco Hookah Lounge, and turned violent.
“That physical altercation escalated into an exchange of gunfire with those groups,” Atlanta police Deputy Chief Timothy Peek, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “Two police officers who were working at that particular club, or lounge, noticed the altercation and engaged some of the people involved. There was an exchange of gunfire with police as well.”
Von's death was confirmed via Instagram by one of his friends @chopsquaddj. Two other people were also killed and several more injured. No names have been released yet by authorities.
26-year old Von, born Dayvon Daquan Bennett, was signed to Lil Durk's OTF label.
This story is developing ...
One of @KingVonFrmdaWic’s close friends and producer, shared on Instagram that Von is dead!
Man this is sad, no one else has confirmed anything.
Story broke out earlier, than Von and his crew fought Quando’s crew outside an club in Atlanta. 2 of Von’s friend died too. RIP pic.twitter.com/d39Iw7XifT
The Benny Boys are back with some new heat. Cousins Benny Boy Rude and Tally Up, have recruited dirty south legend Pastor Troy for a new joint titled "Benny Boys," hosted by Jadakiss.
With his new "Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God" album now in stores, Busta Rhymes, talked about it, Drake, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Verzuz match up and more.
The Notorious B.I.G's mother, Voletta Wallace, talked to The Breakfast Club about his 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, his legacy, generosity and more.
According to reports, the Broward County court system is reportedly reviewing an audio recording of YNW Melly confessing to the double murder of his two friends, Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas Jr. and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams.
The 21-year-old rapper born has been in jail for nearly the last two years as he is accused of staging a drive-by shooting and killing his two friends, Juvy and Sakchaser. He reportedly drove around for a while with the bodies in the car before bringing them to the hospital.
Attorney Todd Baker, who is representing YNW Sakchaser Williams’ family, told Complex that, prior to the shooting, “tension began to develop between the once cohesive group of friends about how the money should be distributed. When there are less people splitting up the prospective money, the people on the receiving end will get more.”
YNW Melly has a new problem, on top of his trial for murdering 2 of his friends ... the rapper is now being sued by their estates for tens of millions of dollars.
The estates of Christopher Thomas and Anthony Williams filed the wrongful death lawsuits. According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Christopher's estate claims "damages are in the millions or tens of millions of dollars or more."
According to the suit filed by Anthony's estate ... Melly murdered him because of money. The suit says tension began to develop among Melly's friends about how money should be distributed, claiming greed was a factor in the alleged murders because it left fewer people to split up the cash.
YNW Melly's mom, Jamie King, and his manager, Jameson Francois, are also named in both suits. The Williams family claims Melly's manager played a role in the alleged murders, including an allegation Francois transported YNW Melly from the shooting location.
As you know ... Melly's been sitting in a Florida jail for over a year, awaiting his double murder trial for his friends' deaths. When he caught COVID-19, he asked to be let out and placed on house arrest, but the judge said no.
The same families suing him now said he should rot in jail with the virus.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is testing how far he can go in using the trappings of presidential power to undermine confidence in this week’s election against Joe Biden, as the Democrat gained ground in tight contests in key battleground states — and then inched ahead in Georgia.
With his pathway to reelection appearing to shrink, Trump on Thursday advanced unsupported accusations of voter fraud to falsely argue that his rival was trying to seize power. It amounted to an extraordinary effort by a sitting American president to sow doubt about the democratic process.
“This is a case when they are trying to steal an election, they are trying to rig an election,” Trump said from the podium of the White House briefing room.
The Republican president’s remarks deepened a sense of anxiety in the U.S. as Americans enter their third full day after the election without knowing who would serve as president for the next four years. His statements also prompted a rebuke from some fellow Republicans, particularly those looking to steer the party in a different direction in a post-Trump era.
Neither candidate has reached the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House. But Biden eclipsed Trump in Wisconsin and Michigan, two crucial Midwestern battleground states, overtook the president in Georgia early Friday and was inching closer to doing the same in Pennsylvania, where votes were still be counted.
It was unclear when a national winner would be determined after a long, bitter campaign dominated by the coronavirus and its effects on Americans and the national economy. The U.S. on Wednesday set another record for daily confirmed cases as several states posted all-time highs. The pandemic has killed more than 233,000 people in the United States.
Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan, a potential 2024 presidential hopeful who has often criticized Trump, said unequivocally: “There is no defense for the President’s comments tonight undermining our Democratic process. America is counting the votes, and we must respect the results as we always have before.”
But others who are rumored to be considering a White House run of their own in four years aligned themselves with the incumbent, including Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who tweeted support for Trump’s claims, writing that “If last 24 hours have made anything clear, it’s that we need new election integrity laws NOW.”
Trump’s campaign engaged in a flurry of legal activity to try to improve the Republican president’s chances, saying it would seek a recount in Wisconsin and filing lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia.
Judges in Georgia and Michigan quickly dismissed Trump campaign lawsuits there on Thursday, when Trump still held a small edge in Georgia — though Biden was gaining on him as votes continued to be counted. The same was true in Pennsylvania, where Trump’s lead had slipped to about 18,000 votes — and the race is destined to get tighter.
One reason is that elections officials were not allowed to process mail-in ballots until Election Day under state law. It’s a form of voting that has skewed heavily in Biden’s favor after Trump spent months claiming without proof that voting by mail would lead to widespread voter fraud.
Mail ballots from across the state were overwhelmingly breaking in Biden’s direction. A final vote total may not be clear for days because the use of mail-in ballots, which take more time to process, has surged as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Trump campaign said it was confident the president would ultimately pull out a victory in Arizona, where votes were also still being counted, including in Maricopa County, the state’s most populous area. The AP has declared Biden the winner in Arizona and said Thursday that it was monitoring the vote count as it proceeded.