Aspiring Florida rapper arrested in Cobb, charged with murder in gang-related shooting

A 19-year-old aspiring rapper was arrested in Austell on Tuesday, months after being named as a murder suspect in a Memorial Day weekend homicide in Florida, authorities said.

Cordellius Lashawn Dyess, of Pensacola, Fla., had been on the run since late August in connection with the shooting death of 20-year-old Elizabeth Harris, according to multiple media reports at the time. Dyess raps under the names Lil Dell and Baby 9.

He was arrested by the Cobb County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force at the Windwood Apartments off Shenandoah Trail, according to Cobb jail records. Sheriff Neil Warren congratulated his deputies on the arrest in a Facebook post.

A post on Dyess' Instagram account links to a news article about his arrest, and the post had amassed nearly 2,000 likes as of Wednesday afternoon. His most popular songs on the music streaming service SoundCloud are "Thuggin'" and "In The Bricks," which has more than 100,000 views on YouTube.

Dyess is the fourth suspect arrested in the homicide, which took place at the Platinum Club nightclub in Pensacola, the city said in a news release.

The other three suspects, 19-year-old Dante Walker, 18-year-old Tequan Warren and 17-year-old Markesia James, were arrested in late August, news station WEAR-TV reported.

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Warren, James and Dyess were all indicted in September on charges of first-degree felony murder, attempted second-degree murder and shooting into an occupied vehicle, while Walker is charged with accessory to murder, the news station reported.

The victim was leaving a concert with her sister and friends May 27 when a shooting broke out in the parking lot, Pensacola police said. More than 40 gunshots were fired from seven different guns, and Harris was fatally hit in the back by a stray bullet.

Police said she wasn't the intended target of the shooting, which they said was between two rival gangs. The intended target was also hit in the back by one bullet but survived.

The incident stemmed from a fight that happened in 2017, and the two gangs are accused of 22 local shootings since then, police said.

Dyess remains in the Cobb jail awaiting extradition to Florida.

"We appreciate the help of the U.S. Marshals in tracking down this dangerous fugitive," Pensacola Mayor Grocer Robinson said in a release. "This is another example of how the partnership between the Pensacola Police Department and its federal partners can help make our community a safe place to live."

Investigators are still working to identify other suspects.

Cox Media Group