JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Wednesday marked the start of the trial for Jacksonville rapper Hakeem Robinson, alias Ksoo, along with his co-defendant Leroy Whitaker, in Duval County court. Separate juries were chosen for each defendant, and once the jury was seated, both the state’s representatives and the defendants’ lawyers presented their opening statements.

Robinson faces charges in connection with two murders in Jacksonville. The ongoing case pertains to the 2020 killing of Charles McCormick, also known by the nickname Lil Buck. McCormick was shot at a shopping plaza on Merrill Road on January 15, 2020.

Prosecutors say a man caught on camera committing the shooting is Robinson. The state says Whitaker did not shoot McCormick but is accused of taking part in planning the shooting, being in the car with Robinson while they followed McCormick to the crime scene, and being part of the subsequent getaway.

Both murders are part of a gang war in the city, which has led to deadly shootings on both sides, often in retaliation for a killing by the other side — or a “drill rap” song insulting one of the dead.

Robinson’s father, Abdul Robinson Sr., brother Abdul “Kareem” Robinson Jr., and Dominique Barner are also charged in McCormick’s murder. Both Robinson brothers are facing charges of first-degree murder as criminal gang members; gang affiliation can increase their sentences by as much as triple if they are found guilty.

However, through a court order issued in June, Abdul Robinson Jr. will be tried separately from Robinson and Whitaker. Meanwhile, Abdul Robinson Sr. and Barner are cooperating with prosecutors, with both expected to testify as star witnesses in the trial.

Robinson and Whitaker have both pleaded not guilty to their charges.

State opening statements mention gang ties, diss track

Assistant State Attorney Joel Cooper Jr. delivered opening statements for the prosecution.

Cooper said a “diss track” created by McCormick, which referenced Robinson’s slain brother Willie Addison, created the motive for the crime. He also said McCormick was associated with 6 Block, the gang previously associated with Jacksonville rapper Foolio, often nicknamed Mr. 6. (Foolio was killed last year; the suspects in that case are also documented as affiliates of the gang, police records show.)

6 Block is in direct opposition to ATK, which court records say stands for “Aces Top Killers” and involves associates of Yungeen Ace, a Jacksonville rapper. Robinson, along with his brothers, father, and co-defendants, is a documented member of ATK.

Cooper cited both gang affiliation and the song as the reasons McCormick was targeted. He stressed that the emotional wounds of losing Addison would be lasting for Robinson and could trigger him to violence.

“Now I want to be very, very clear, Charles McCormick was not involved in the shooting of Willie Addison or anyone else in that vehicle,” he said, noting that his sole offense was the mention of McCormick in the song.

Robinson’s own attorney later acknowledged that McCormick was not a known musician and had not widely released the song.

Cooper called the killing a “wicked, premeditated murder in a vile scheme.”

He told the story of McCormick’s death. He had been at a temp agency in the Merrill Road shopping center and was exiting with a folder containing new details of a new job. In these moments, McCormick had no idea he would never go to that job, Cooper told the jury.

The state says Robinson, Whitaker, and Barner (who has reached a plea deal in exchange for his testimony) were driving a stolen Nissan Altima. Cooper said they drove it to the crime scene, and Robinson exited the vehicle, chased McCormick, and shot him dead as he left the temp agency.

“Flesh, brain matter, even teeth were sent flying through the air,” he said.

The three are accused of leaving the scene, fleeing police, and crashing the car during the chase. Whitaker and Barner then went to a home where they are accused of a violent home invasion; Robinson went another way, Cooper said.

Cooper said Robinson called a 6 Block member on Instagram before the killing, saying he caught “one of (his) boys slipping.” “Letting him know they’re getting ready to take somebody out,” Cooper said.

He also pointed to an Instagram post created by Robinson after McCormick’s murder, where he wrote, “Kill a n**** then go get my toes done.”

He also said Robinson posted McCormick’s song on his IG account a few days after the murder with text reading, “Bye bye.”

Cooper promised jurors they would see a video of the crime, captured on the dashcam of a witness. (This video was shown later in court Wednesday.) He says the gunman seen in the video wore Robinson’s clothes and had his gun.

He admitted jurors would not be able to see the shooter’s face in the video.

“There is so much evidence in this case against both defendants, so many different types of evidence,” he told jurors. “It’s much like a puzzle. While they’re powerful on their own, independently… when you put them together, and they come together so easily, so intuitively… when you put these pieces together, you will be presented with the truth of January 15, 2020.”

He listed other evidence the state plans to present, such as DNA. Cooper said they didn’t find the murder weapon in the car because Robinson ran off with it, but guns inside the car show that Whitaker was “armed and fully willing and ready to participate; and he did, even though he did not pull a trigger.”

He also introduced jurors to the fact that Robinson Sr. and Barner will be testifying, telling them he is not asking for them to “like” either witness, just to listen to their testimony.

He finished: “If Charles McCormick would have witnessed and been aware of and seen and heard all the evidence we have discussed… is there any doubt if he could stand in here and testify, he would not scream Hakeem Robinson and Leroy Whitaker’s guilty names?”

During her opening statements, Tara Kawass, one of Robinson’s attorneys, stressed discrepancies between his appearance and the man seen on the dashcam video.

“You will see someone completely covered chase down McCormick in broad daylight and shoot him, in front of many witnesses,” she said. “The most important question in this case is going to be — who is the shooter?”

While Robinson is 6′ and heavier set, Kawass says the man in the video is estimated to be between 5’5″ and 5’11”, with some witnesses saying he was between 5’5″ and 5’8″.

“They are going to ask you to not believe your eyes,” she said.

Kawass said that when Robinson was brought in, police hadn’t realized his body type was so different, and they could have let him go, but they instead “doubled down.”

She also called into question the prosecution’s choice to use Barner and Robinson Sr. as their star witnesses. Barner chose to testify because he was “caught red handed,” and was using Robinson as an opportunity to get out of jail, she said.

She said that Robinson’s father did not care about him and was also using him. “He’s just Hakeem’s DNA contributor,” she said, noting that he had nine children by five women.

Meanwhile, Robinson was working hard to succeed in his rap career and was going to “make it,” she said.

“Hakeem was a local celebrity, he was a rap musician,” she told the jury. She noted his deal with Cinematic Music Group that yielded a $40,000 advance — less than two weeks before the murder. She questioned the idea that Robinson would throw this away in order to commit this crime.

Kawass said that Whitaker and Abdul Sr. were responsible for this crime and that is why they wanted to testify.

She also said that Robinson was the only person on scene whose cellphone was not used, and his DNA was only found mixed with other people’s.

Note: We have chosen not to show any videos of McCormick’s shooting. That is why the camera pans away from the screen during the dashcam video.

Whitaker’s attorney, Julie Schlax, said that Barner’s name would be the only one identified in the case. “The shooter? The lone gunman in that video? Is not Leroy Whitaker. So how are we here? Why are we here?”

She asked jurors to write a section in their notebook titled “Evidence of Leroy Whitaker’s participation in this murder.” They would only encounter one name, and it would not be his, but instead Barner’s.

Barner, an “admitted two-time killer,” and “self-proclaimed paid assassin,” would try to fill a “blatant hole” in the state’s evidence, Schlax said.

Barner and Robinson Sr., both witnesses in this case, are implicated in another murder outside of this one. Schlax also noted that Barner was charged with being violent during the home invasion after McCormick’s murder. She warned the jury that Barner “has every hope and expectation of walking amongst us again,” as part of his plea deal.