A man has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with the death of Migos rapper Takeoff, Houston Police chief Troy Finner announced at a news conference on Friday.
The chief said Patrick Xavier Clark, 33, was arrested in Houston on Thursday evening. A second man, Cameron Joshua, 22, was charged with the unlawful carrying of a weapon.
“We lost a good man,” Finner said, adding that he has spoken with Takeoff’s family, and thanked them for their patience throughout the investigation.
Takeoff (real name: Kirsnik Khari Ball) was shot and killed on Nov. 1 at a bowling alley in downtown Houston where he and Quavo, his uncle and Migos bandmate, were playing dice at around 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
Popular on Variety
Officers said that a crowd of approximately 40 or 50 people was at the scene when the shooting took place. Takeoff was pronounced dead at the scene, while Quavo was unharmed. Two other people were shot and taken to the hospital.
At Friday’s press conference, Sgt. Michael Burrow said Takeoff was an “innocent bystander” of the argument that led to his shooting death.
“The event was a private party, there was a lucrative dice game that went on at the event, there was an argument that happened afterwards outside the bowling alley which led to the shooting,” he said.
“I can tell you that Takeoff was not involved in playing the dice game, he was not involved in the argument that happened outside, he was not armed. He was an innocent bystander.”
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said, “I will say that too many young men — and I will be more specific and say too many young men of color —are killing other young men. This has to stop.”
On Nov. 11, 10 days after his murder, Takeoff was remembered in a “Celebration of Life” at the State Farm Arena in his hometown of Atlanta. The event was attended by friends, fans, family members and music industry peers. Fellow artists Drake and Justin Bieber were part of the service, with Migos members Quavious “Quavo” Marshall and Kiari “Offset” Cephus offering emotional speeches to the capacity crowd of 21,000 people.
Variety will have more on this news as it develops.
