An Atlanta-based rapper and five other men have been arrested on murder charges after a deadly shooting at a DeKalb County gas station Saturday night, police said.
All six suspects —19-year-old De’Vonti King, 20-year-old Darreun Dodson, 25-year-old Jamal Braud, 26-year-old Bryan Jones, 31-year-old Deavin Baker, and 46-year-old Thavian Ford — were also accused of criminal gang activity, DeKalb County Police spokesperson Michaela Vincent told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday.
Braud, who is based in East Atlanta, performs as rapper Yung Mal and boasts over 600,000 followers on Instagram. The artist was at one point mentored by Gucci Mane and is signed to New York record label Alamo Records, which was recently acquired by Sony Music Entertainment.
The night of the shooting, Braud was booked to perform at Echo Stage Soul Kitchen & Lounge in Mississippi, according to an Instagram post. Owner Rashon Donald told the AJC that Braud performed at the venue around 12:30 a.m. Donald could not confirm when Braud arrived but said “he had an entourage with him.”
Nearly four hours earlier, DeKalb County police were called to the Chevron gas station on at the corner of Candler and Kelly Lake roads after a man in his mid-40s was shot. The victim was transported to the hospital, where he later died.
Police did not release the victim’s name. According to Vincent, he and the six suspects were arguing prior to the shooting. It was not immediately clear how they were connected to each other.
Braud, the rapper, has been arrested in DeKalb County multiple times since 2013. Last year, Braud retweeted a video from what appeared to be his private Snapchat account that showed a man slapping a zebra at a drive-through animal park in Troup County. Local authorities shared still images from the video and asked for the public’s help to identify the man.
The man in the video was never charged with a crime, but he was banned from the animal park, according to the Troup County Sheriff’s Office. Braud did not offer any further comment on the incident.
Dodson faces an additional violation of the street gang terrorism and prevention act charge and an additional aggravated assault charge, according to online jail records.
All six suspects are being held in the DeKalb County Jail.
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