The cousin of late Jacksonville rapper Julio Foolio became overwhelmed with emotion on Wednesday as he recounted the night his family member was killed in a hail of gunfire last year.
Valondia “Gino” Norris, who was sitting beside Foolio — born Charles Jones — when the 26-year-old artist was fatally shot in June 2024, testified during the ongoing murder trial of Alicia Andrews, the first of five defendants charged in connection with his death.
Norris appeared in Judge Michelle Sisco’s Tampa courtroom but requested not to be shown on camera. He told jurors he awoke inside Foolio’s Dodge Charger after the vehicle was riddled with bullets and crashed.
“When I woke up, the first thing I saw was Foolio laid out,” Norris said softly. “I thought it was a car accident until I looked up, saw the bullet holes, and saw Zay covered in blood yelling.”
Prosecutors confirmed that “Zay” refers to Xavier Edwards, the driver of the black Dodge Charger that Foolio was riding in when gunmen opened fire.
Norris testified that he had fallen asleep moments before the ambush and woke up amid chaos. When Edwards asked him to check his head for injuries, Norris realized he had been shot.
“I looked down and saw a hole in my arm,” he said, noting that the wound left a permanent scar.
Prosecutors said Norris sustained a gunshot wound to the upper right arm. When the state presented photos from his hospital stay as evidence, Norris broke down in tears, prompting Judge Sisco to recess the courtroom so he could compose himself briefly.
“Mr. Norris, I know this is difficult,” Judge Sisco told him, according to courtroom observers. “But it’s important that you’re able to testify without being too emotional.”
The jury was temporarily excused as Norris gathered himself before continuing his testimony.
The emotional testimony came during the trial of Alicia Andrews, accused of acting as a lookout in the ambush that killed Foolio outside a Tampa Holiday Inn. Prosecutors allege that Andrews helped coordinate the attack by tracking the rapper’s movements and communicating his location to the gunmen.
The shooting happened in the early morning hours of June 23, 2024, outside a Holiday Inn in Tampa, where Foolio had checked in after being asked to leave an Airbnb where he had hosted a birthday party that exceeded occupancy limits.
According to prosecutors, Foolio and his friends, including Norris, had been celebrating at local nightclubs before returning to the hotel. That’s when three masked gunmen opened fire on the vehicle using modified AR-style rifles equipped with brass catchers — devices meant to keep shell casings from being left behind.
Foolio was killed instantly. Norris, Edwards, and another woman, Camia Bentley, who was in a nearby car, were all wounded.
After the gunfire stopped, Edwards managed to drive the bullet-riddled Charger a short distance before stopping to call for help. Police and paramedics soon arrived, taking the survivors to the hospital.
Prosecutors allege Foolio’s killing was part of a years-long gang feud in Jacksonville involving his “6 Block” group and rival gangs ATK (Ace’s Top Killers) and 1200.
Andrews, who prosecutors say is not a gang member herself, is accused of acting as a lookout, allegedly following Foolio in a separate vehicle and communicating his location to the gunmen.
Her boyfriend, Isaiah Chance Jr., Sean Gathright, and cousins Rashad and Davion Murphy are also charged in the case. Davion Murphy remains at large.
Andrews is the first defendant to stand trial in the case, which prosecutors describe as a carefully coordinated ambush that ended one of Jacksonville’s most prominent rap careers.
Additional witness testimony is expected in the coming days as the trial continues in Tampa.
