Source: Rebecca Sapp / Getty
The man accused of killing Migos rapper Takeoff says he’s innocent. Through his lawyer, Patrick Xavier Clark, 33, says that he’s “nervous and concerned” that he’s been blamed for the murder.
Letitia Quinones says her client is “being charged with something that he believes he’s innocent of, so how would anyone do in that type of circumstance?”
Clark was arrested last Friday after police say he was identified as the individual who fired the shots that killed Takeoff, born Kirshnik Khari Ball. Takeoff was 28. Police say forensic evidence ties Clark to the crime.
Sgt. Michael Burrow of the Houston police said Takeoff was an “innocent bystander.”
“The event was a private party, there was a lucrative dice game that went on at the event, and there was an argument that happened afterward outside the bowling alley, which led to the shooting,” Burrow 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.”
Cameron Joshua, 22, was also arrested for felony possession of a weapon, but police have not detailed his specific connection to Takeoff’s death.
“We had to rely on a large volume of video, cell phone, things that surfaced over time,” Burrow said. “We had to sift through that, physical evidence, shooting evidence and things that surfaced over time.”
Takeoff was fatally shot in the head and torso at 810 Billiards & Bowling in downtown Houston in the early morning hours of Nov. 1. He was with his uncle and Migos partner, Quavo. A video showed Quavo in a dispute with a man off-camera, but just before the shots were fired, he tried to de-escalate the situation and walk away.
Quavo and Takeoff were in the midst of promotion for their Unc & Phew side project, Built for Infinity Links. They recently released the video for “Messy” from the project.
Police say two people, a 23-year-old man, and a 24-year-old woman, suffered “non-life threatening injuries” and that at least two people were shooting. Clark is a DJ, according to police, who would not say if he and Takeoff knew each other.
“There is a lot of investigation that needs to be done…So, we just ask that everyone keep an open mind and let the system do its part and let the Constitution do its part and that is, right now he’s innocent until he’s proven guilty,” Quinones said.
Per official reports, Clark was en route to Mexico with an expedited passport and with a “large amount” of cash. He was arrested while preparing to leave, though his lawyer says he’d canceled the trip which was planned beforehand. “He wasn’t trying to go anywhere,” Quinones said.
Patrick Xavier Clark is being held on a $2 million bond.
