Four charged in rapper's killing

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By Larry Hartstein

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Griffin police have arrested four Griffin men in the shooting death of the rapper known as Yung Hott, who was gunned down Saturday while making a video in his hometown.

Rapper Yung Hott, whose real name is Jerode Paige, was shot and killed Saturday night while filming a video.

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The suspects -- Bahir Howard, 22, Corderra Walker, 21, Terry James Fuller, 31, and Terrance Jones, 23 -- are being held without bond in the Spalding County Jail on charges of murder, aggravated battery, child cruelty and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

Jerode Paige -- aka Yung Hott -- died at the scene of the quadruple shooting in which at least 20 rounds were fired. Four others, including a 5-year-old girl, suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

The girl was playing in a toy car in her yard when she was wounded in her left foot. She was treated at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston and released Sunday.

Howard was among the shooting victims. He was hit in the leg, treated at a hospital, then transferred to jail.

"We have no idea at this point who shot him," Griffin police chief Frank Strickland told the AJC.

The incident happened around 6 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of Tinsley and Fourth streets, police said. Strickland said the suspects came up on foot, firing handguns and a shotgun. Only Fuller did not shoot, but "he was a co-conspirator," Strickland said. "He was right there."

Strickland declined to release the motive yet. He said the suspects were picked up separately over the weekend based on "good information, witnesses, just good detective work."

Paige, 27, was filming his first video. His uncle, Kenny Paige, was among some 150 people who were working on the video or watching when the gunfire erupted.

"I mean, it was broad daylight," Kenny Paige told the AJC. "I heard a lot of gunshots and people scattered."

Paige was shot in the head, his uncle said.

The video was to accompany Paige's first single, which had recently been played on an Atlanta radio station, according to Sid Cooper, a producer who had worked with the rapper.

"He had some good music," Cooper told the AJC. “His music was real. Everything he talked about in his music he did.”

Friends said Paige was trying to turn his life around after a past that included prison. Paige was released from Wheeler Correctional Facility in central Georgia in June and was on parole, according to state records. He served prison time for a variety of drug offenses as well as possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

"He was on the right track," Cooper said.

Paige's father was beaten to death at age 28, and Paige was raised by his grandmother in Griffin, another uncle, Gary Paige, told the AJC. Paige was pursuing his music career with a single-minded purpose. He was again living with his grandmother.

"He got out [of prison] and he said he wasn't going to let anybody stop him from getting his career," Gary Paige said. "He wanted to give his grandmother a lot. He was really into his music and he wanted to show his grandmother he had the ability to be somebody."

Paige made a point of saying he was from Griffin, not Atlanta.

"He wanted everybody to know he was from a little town that had a lot of talent," Gary Paige said.

Paige's uncles said they had no idea why he was targeted.

-- Staff writer Alexis Stevens contributed to this report.