DaBaby has maintained that his killing of a young man named Jaylin Craig in 2018 was out of self-defense, however, Rolling Stone has unearthed a new video it says undercuts his claim. In the video, taken in 2018, Craig and his best friend, Henry Douglas, walk into a Walmart in North Carolina. Craig sees a then relatively unknown DaBaby, however, Douglas was unsure if it was, in fact, the rapper. The two walked near DaBaby, who was shopping with his then-girlfriend Mariah Osborne and their children, in an attempt to verify that it was him, which seemingly aggravated the rapper.
“That’s what eventually started it; when he took it the wrong way,” Douglas told Rolling Stone. “We were trying to see who you are, and he took it as somebody is looking at him with a problem.”
According to Douglas, DaBaby then asked him and Craig, “Do you know me?,” to which Douglas replied, “Oh, I thought that was you,” and then walked off. Douglas claims he saw a woman he knew in the store, then went to say hello to her, walking past DaBaby again. DaBaby allegedly demanded to know what Douglas and Craig were doing, then suggested they go to the parking lot to fight.
Douglas agreed to go outside, with the idea that he and Craig would hop in their cars parked near the entrance and leave. In the uncovered footage, DaBaby is seen “unexpectedly launching into Douglas, striking him in the head and nearly tackling him to the ground.”
In the footage, Craig is seen standing nearby. As Douglas and DaBaby fight, “Craig reaches into the front of his waistband to pull out what appears to be a firearm,” according to Mecklenburg County Assistant District Attorney William Bunting’s report.” Craig attempts to intervene, putting “his left hand between the fighting pair, as if to pull them off one another.” Osborne, then interjects herself into the scuffle, pushing and hitting Craig in the face, in an attempt to separate DaBaby from Douglas, according to the surveillance footage and report.
When DaBaby breaks free, he pulls out a concealed .40-caliber Glock from his waistband and shoots Craig one time in the side. Craig runs into a nearby aisle, before collapsing to the ground. Minutes later, Craig would be pronounced dead.
DaBaby has referenced the fatal shooting several times over the course of his career, including in lyrics from his 2020 hit, “Rockstar” and in the video for his 2019 breakout, “Walker Texas Ranger.” Though he has maintained that he acted in self-defense.
This is one of several reported altercations in which DaBaby has been a part of, including one with his artist, Wisdom, and a fatal shooting of an intruder in his North Carolina home.
