DaBaby was on the verge of superstardom when he was cleared in the November 2018 murder of Jaylin Craig. The KIRK rapper claimed he shot the 19-year-old North Carolina native in self-defense after a chance encounter at a Charlotte-area Walmart. The Interscope Records artist explained at the time Craig and another teen had approached him, his then-girlfriend Mariah Osborne and two children and drew his gun, forcing him to draw his and fire.
But in newly obtained video by Rolling Stone, DaBaby’s self-defense claim appears to be called into question. In the clip, DaBaby reportedly throws the first punch at Craig’s friend Henry Douglas and splits his forehead open, which later requires stitches. Craig’s mother, LaWanda Horsley, was shocked DaBaby was able to skirt the more serious charge of murder and wind up with probation for carrying a concealed weapon.
“I feel like they just swept it up under the rug,” Horsley said of the investigation into her son’s death. “[Kirk] 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.”
After DaBaby was vindicated, he seemingly bragged about the killing numerous times in music, causing further pain for the Craig family. Just four days after Craig’s death, DaBaby droped a video for “No Tears,” using local news footage of the incident for the intro with the lyrics, “And any n-gga, touch me, catch a body like Boosie. Try me, I’m shootin’. No back and forth, just up it, I’m blowin’.”
Then in the 2020 hit “Rockstar,” he raps about his one-year-old daughter witnessing the murder with, “My daughter a G, she saw me kill a n-gga in front of her before the age of two.” He also addressed the shooting in an Instagram Live video shortly after it happened, saying, “Daughter could have got hit, son could have got hit [and] me. Lawyers … telling me not to say nothing … But two [people] walk down on you and your whole … family, threatening y’all, whip out [a gun] on y’all, let me see what y’all going to do.”
Walmart surveillance footage reviewed by Rolling Stone shows Craig and Douglas rolling through the entrance of the store around 6:30 p.m. local time, laughing. Craig thought he saw DaBaby in the store but was thrown off by his subdued clothing and the fact he was shopping for baby clothes in a Walmart. Douglas cops to walking by DaBaby a few times to make sure it was him, and that’s when DaBaby started to get annoyed.
“That’s what eventually started it; when he took it the wrong way,” Douglas says. “We were trying to see who you are, and he took it as somebody is looking at him with a problem.” DaBaby supposedly then says, “Do you know me?” to which Douglas said, “Oh, I thought that was you” before walking away. But DaBaby demands a fight instead and challenges them to go outside.
As Douglas turns to leave, DaBaby is seen on surveillance footage “unexpectedly launching into Douglas, striking him in the head and nearly tackling him to the ground.”
Craig moves toward the two men and “puts his left hand between the fighting pair, as if to pull them off one another” before DaBaby is able to break free one of his hands and pull out a concealed .40-caliber Glock from his waistband to shoot Craig one time in the side at close range. Leaving a trail of blood as he stumbles away, Craig collapses to the floor at the other end of the aisle.
While Douglas says he never saw Craig draw a weapon, DaBaby told police they saw Craig pull a gun out he was fighting with Douglas. He also said he heard DaBaby’s girlfriend yelling, “He got a gun, he got a gun.” Because there were multiple witnesses who said they saw Craig with a gun, prosecutors couldn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt DaBaby didn’t act in self-defense.
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Horsley, Curtis and the rest of their family want DaBaby to pay for Craig’s death. They are publicly sharing their story in hopes it will lead to a homicide charge.
Curtis adds, “In my eyes, I feel like [Jaylin] was murdered. And [Kirk] got away with it. Everything he [does] is pretty much the same thing. He’s assaulting people, he’s getting away with it. Every case that you look at, they’re dismissing it. Why is he getting off?”
No rapping buffoon that thinks he’s untouchable. Do your job police.
No Double Jeopardy so too late now.
he was never charged & acquitted in a court of law, so double jeopardy doesn’t apply here. if police review the footage & determine he killed that man, he can be charged.
that’s not true since double jeopardy wouldn’t apply here. he was charged with carrying a concealed weapon & got probation. he wasn’t charged with killing that man in any way so if police review the footage and determine he killed that dude and was the aggressor, he can be hit with a murder charge. he would have had to be charged with murder & acquitted in court the first time for it to be double jeopardy.
Repeatedly walking by a famous person in a store is absolutely shady and obviously would cause some trouble.
A part of me feels like dude shouldn’t had responded like “I thought it was you…” That in itself is sus. At least be like “Yo, I’m a fan and was sure it was you…” But also, it states dude was wondering why Da Baby was shopping at Walmart in such attire. It’s not uncommon for folk to clown artists if they’re doing normal things and not on some super star image, and then proceed to talk ish, clown and then try to post it on social media. Google such encounters. Regardless, a man lost his life, da Baby brags about it, and the family have not received any closure. Cooler heads prevail. Hot tempered burn out too quick and fail.
Worst part of this sh is the man being praised, ballin with nba players courtside slash celebrities in the clubs, making a us president playlist etc. This motherducker should be doing time long time ago it is what it is peple.
Btw he really can’t throw a 1 2 no wonder he so insecure little guy
Killed a presumably innocent man but fucked up individuals in the U.S. only care about him saying something homophobic.
To be fair, up until this video his shooting was ruled self-defense. So, there wasn’t outcry about it. Now that this video casts doubt, people definitely care lol.
im sure this the same footage that the judge and cops seen plus more footage. no doubt cast only from one footage
why why you gotta cut away from the scuffle and edit the woman in there for? Now we can’t see the killshot!
Self Defense? Yeah right self defense lol, obviously DaBaby charged dude and hit him then they locked up for a while. For whatever reason they cut-away from that camera and give us another camera viewpoint of the lady leaving her shopping cart, then footage of Lil’ Jon-Jon tucking away his gun and looking at people like: “Who Else Want Some.” His lawyer is in co-hoots with the judge; they cannot not prove that it was not self defense, but they can’t prove it was self defense either. The only thing for certain is that a young man is dead as a result of Jon-Jon’s actions. He is still sucker-punching and shooting people.
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don’t worry, he’s black. a small hat wearing lawyer will make sure he gets off the hook, and probably will manage to blame it on maga hat wearing Trump supporters too! DaBaby is the real victim here. Of systemic racism. Probably some white man was wearing blackface and murdered the poor kid thus framing DaBaby!
Imagine bragging about killing another person in front of your little kid. This guy is such a lowlife.
I heard that the victim’s father sent in the video. Can’t say I’m surprised. Being a killer only helped DaBaby’s career. He brags about it all the time. They’ll never let it go. That being said, I’m sure there was more evidence that supported self defense, otherwise he would’ve been charged before.
they already sound half retarded and then they raise their kids to sound even more retarded. look at that nose!!! hahahahahaha
black americans are by far the dumbest group of humans in first world countries in the entire world. talk like theyre 11, act like theyre 12. ignorant. stupid. im glad i dont live in the us. at least black people here in the uk sound like they have been educated. this guy sounds so dumb i cant believe anybody can take this guy serious.
He looks like a mini King Kong
If you ever come across somebody who doesn’t believe in evolution… have them look at DaBaby
If he continues to have popularity in the hip hop community after this I never want to hear another word about BLM. What a joke, no regard for human life
A lot of people rushing to judgement below but this footage doesn’t prove if Craig pulled out a gun first or not.