Almost four years after that fateful night in Houston, the man charged with the murder of Takeoff is finally going to trial. Patrick Xavier Clark, aka DJ Pat, is charged with murder in connection with shooting that claimed the life of the Migos rapper on November 1, 2022.
Jury selection set to begin on November 5, 2026, and the trial is set to begin on the 9th in Harris County. It’s been a long time coming to this point.
It was around 2:30 a.m. when Takeoff (real name Kirsnick Khari Ball) was shot outside the 810 Billiards & Bowling club in downtown Houston. Takeoff was attending a private after-party hosted by J. Prince Jr. A dice game in the lobby escalated into a heated argument, and before long, shots were ringing out.
A tweet from X.
Takeoff, just 28 years old, was not even involved in the altercation. Police have come right out and said that Takeoff was an innocent bystander. He was shot in the head and body and died at the scene. A female was also shot but survived.
Clark, who is currently 36 years old, was arrested on December 1, 2022. As per the prosecutors, Takeoff was seen on camera shooting a gun with one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. It was also revealed that the shell casings that were found at the crime scene were of an AR-15-style pistol that belonged to Clark, and his fingerprints were also found on the bottle of wine.
Houston homicide Sgt. Michael Burrow put it plainly back in ’22: an argument outside led to the shooting, and the evidence pointed to Clark.
Clark has pleaded not guilty and claims self-defense. His bond started at $2 million, dropped to $1 million, and he’s been out since early 2023 curfew and other restrictions have been lifted over time.
Another guy, Cameron Joshua, caught weapons charges but not murder. So Clark is the only one standing trial for the killing.
The case dragged for years Harris County’s courts were buried under COVID backlogs, plus endless evidence reviews and pretrial filings. A hearing on February 10, 2026 finally locked in the November dates. His lawyer, Letitia Quinones-Hollins, says there have been zero plea discussions; they’re going straight to a jury.
Houston had about 435 homicides in 2022, the vast majority of which were gun deaths, smack in the middle of that ugly post-pandemic homicide spike. Things have cooled down a bit since the 2025 report from the Council on Criminal Justice found that homicides in major cities are down 21% from the 2024 peak.
Takeoff’s death still stings, just like Nipsey Hussle outside his store in 2019 or Pop Smoke in that Hollywood home invasion in 2020. Every time it happens, the same questions come up: too many guns, not enough security at these spots.
The family’s still waiting for real closure. Takeoff’s mom filed a wrongful-death suit against the venue. Quavo’s been channeling his grief into gun reform work with The Rocket Foundation. Maybe this trial finally forces some real talk about safer events and a justice system that doesn’t take forever.
