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Up-and-coming rapper Superstar Pride has been charged with first-degree murder in Mississippi, according to WAPT.
Pride, born Cadarrius Pride, is currently being held without bond at the Panola County Detention Center for the shooting death of 40-year-old Marcus Wheatley, according to the sheriff’s office.
TMZ reports that Pride surrendered only hours later on Wednesday.
The victim’s grandmother, Mary Ann Strong, was reportedly present during the shooting. She added her grandson used to be Pride’s barber.
Strong tells the outlet that Pride came to visit her grandson at her house on Wednesday. She says she saw Pride chase after Wheatley as the two fled the home.
The rapper reportedly shot Wheatley several times as he ran, according to Strong.
“And the young man was shooting at him, and he finally shot him down,” Strong told WREG. “He fell here, and he shot about three times after he fell, and he walked over to me, and he pointed the gun at me and asked if I was going to tell it,” Strong said. “He came back out here and fired a last shot in his head.”
Additionally, Strong explained that her grandson was a “real soft-hearted person.”
“He was a real soft-hearted person, did whatever he could to help anybody. He was a really nice person.”
She added that Pride fled in a red pickup truck. That vehicle was eventually found abandoned in Pope, Mississippi, per WREG.
The alleged motive behind the shooting has not been publicly revealed.
Meanwhile, Superstar Pride’s song “Painting Pictures,” which samples Faith Evans’ “Soon As I Get Home,” made the Billboard Hot 100 list earlier this year.
The track initially went viral on TikTok before reaching the Billboard Top 25 for rap songs, according to TMZ.
