HOUSTON – A rapper already under federal indictment in connection to a shooting at an Upper Kirby restaurant is now facing state charges related to the barrage of gunfire that injured another rapper.
Jeremy Christopher Ford, a 36-year-old rapper from Michigan also known as Allstar JR, is now charged with aggravated assault causing a traumatic brain or spine injury, according to Harris County court records.
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Ford is accused of shooting Ben Fields, also known as rapper NBA Ben10, during a fight at Confessions restaurant in the Upper Kirby neighborhood in early April.
According to federal court records, surveillance video showed Ford in a fight inside the restaurant possibly involving a necklace and watch.
A gun fell to the floor, investigators said, which Ford allegedly picked up and began firing, hitting three people.
Houston police investigators said after initial shots appeared to hit Fields, Ford allegedly continued firing the gun before he went over to Fields and fired three more rounds at him from close range. The gun then appeared to run out of bullets, according to investigators, but Ford tried to fire it again at Fields’ head.
After it didn’t fire, police said Ford pistol whipped Fields and spit on his face, according to records.
Investigators have now revealed Fields suffered a spine injury as a result of the shooting and he doesn’t have sensation from the waist down, according to records.
“Based on the extent of the injuries, the prognosis for Complainant Fields is that he will have irreversible paralysis of his lower extremities,” investigators wrote in state court records.
After the shooting, federal court records indicate Ford hid the gun behind a hostess stand and took off in an Escalade.
He was federally indicted earlier this month for unlawfully possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
He was arrested in Detroit last month after federal investigators say Ford posted videos on social media referencing the shooting, taunting the victims, and released a music video, with lyrics including, “shootout right there in [the restaurant] now I’m two and oh.”
After his arrest, Houston police interviewed Ford, who allegedly confessed to the shooting at Confessions, according to records.
During a federal court hearing last week, records indicate a federal magistrate judge in Houston ordered Ford to be held in custody.
It’s not clear when he could appear in Harris County courts on the new aggravated assault charge.