Florida police have charged a man with murder in Monday’s fatal shooting of controversial rapper XXXTentacion.
Dedrick Devonshay Williams, 22, was taken into custody by the Broward County Sheriff’s Department on Wednesday just after 7 p.m. Arrest records show he was charged with first-degree murder without premeditation, along with driving without a valid license and a probation violation for theft of a car.
Authorities have described XXXTentacion’s shooting as a “possible robbery” as the rapper was leaving a motorsports dealership outside Fort Lauderdale in his home state of Florida just before 4 p.m.
Police did not immediately comment on the suspect’s alleged motive, but said more details on Williams’ arrest will be released later Thursday.
The 20-year-old rapper’s mother announced police had a suspect in custody at a vigil Wednesday night, according to a video posted by the Instagram account streetwatcherzx.
“I just got the text just now from one of the detectives,” she told the cheering crowd. “They just arrested them. That means they got him.”
Williams is scheduled to have his first court appearance on Thursday, according to the Sun Sentinel. It wasn’t immediately clear if he has retained an attorney.
In his few years in the spotlight, XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, saw national success as a rapper as well as several high-profile run-ins with the law — including allegations he was abusive.
At the time of the shooting this week, XXXTentacion was reportedly facing trial on multiple felony charges in connection with allegedly assaulting pregnant ex-girlfriend Geneva Ayala.
He repeatedly denied the woman’s accusations, which were detailed at length in a 2017 deposition previously reported on by Pitchfork. Meanwhile, there has been an influx of donations to Ayala’s GoFundMe page — set up to help with her medical bills stemming from the alleged assault by the rapper — following his death.
Police were called to break up the impromptu Los Angeles memorial for XXXTentacion on Tuesday night as thousands gathered on the streets of West Hollywood to mourn the late rapper.
According to The Los Angeles Times, upwards of 1,000 people were in attendance at the event, which was not permitted and was publicized on social media hours before it began.
Though it appeared to start off peacefully around 8 p.m. local time, the memorial quickly grew rowdy.
Officers were first called to the scene around 7:20 p.m. local time, Variety reported, though authorities didn’t begin to break things up until shortly after 9 p.m. The Times reported that the scene was cleared by 10:15 p.m.