In a trial that saw swift deliberation, jurors took just over two hours to reach a verdict in the case against Alicia Andrews, one of five individuals implicated in the murder of rapper Foolio.
TAMPA, Fla. — Late Friday evening, a jury found 22-year-old Alicia Andrews guilty of manslaughter. Andrews was accused of playing a role in the ambush that led to the death of Jacksonville rapper Julio Foolio in Tampa the previous year.
On the witness stand Thursday, Andrews recounted her fear of her boyfriend, Isaiah Chance, whom prosecutors identified as a key figure in orchestrating the fatal event. Andrews maintained her innocence, claiming she was unaware of any murder plot.
The prosecution portrayed Andrews as more than just a passive participant in June 2024. They contended she served as a lookout, assisting her boyfriend and his accomplices in following Foolio’s whereabouts on the evening of the deadly shooting outside a Tampa Holiday Inn.
The chilling gunfire from the ambush was recorded by several security cameras.
Before the jurors retired to deliberate, Andrews testified that she believed the group’s outing was merely a food run and insisted she remained in the car, oblivious to the unfolding violence.
“I mean, I heard a lot of shots so I didn’t know what went on — shooting in the air, somebody got shot at, I didn’t know,” Andrews said.
“Did you know somebody died?” the defense attorney asked.
Andrews testified that she never saw a gun that night and said she remains terrified of her boyfriend, who is also charged in the case.
“People [in jail] look at me sideways, ‘Oh, that’s your boyfriend? He said this, he told me to tell you this,’” Andrews testified. “It’s safety issues. Literally before I came to trial, the deputy told me one of my co-defendants was trying to have me jumped. So I just do what I have to do.”
Prosecutors questioned her credibility during the trial, showing jurors a 2021 text message where Andrews wrote that Foolio “needed to die.”
“Yeah but I didn’t mean it, I was 17 and just gossiping,” Andrews testified.
Prosecutors said during the trial that the text revealed a motive, and that Andrews’ lies during her police interrogation show consciousness of guilt.
Her defense attorneys maintained she was trapped in an abusive relationship and didn’t know anything about a murder plot.
The courtroom grew tense during her testimony, with a shouting match erupting outside as accusations of gang ties flew.
Prosecutors said the killing was a revenge attack connected to an ongoing gang feud between rival Jacksonville groups. A total of five people have been charged in the case — Andrews was the first to stand trial.
Andrews was the final witness to testify during the trial. Being found guilty, she could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
