The Final Hours of Chinx Drugz

One fun-filled night in 2015, Lionel Pickens known to the hip hop community as Chinx Drugz

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Would host his last party without even knowing it, for after, he would be hunted, ambushed, and murdered in cold blood. It was Saturday May 16^th 2015, Chinx Drugz was set to host a party in Brooklyn at club Red Wolf

Before his club appearance, he spent the day enjoying the company of his wife, Janelli Pickens https://youtu.be/U4k1896_ApI (5:40-5:51) 

The sun set and the night came in, they spent the early hours of the night together until a little after midnight around 12:30am May 17^th when Chinx Drugz was about to leave to go to the event. His wife was tired from their day together and decided to stay in bed while he headed out. They shared a heartwarming joke about it before he said the words “I promise I’m coming straight home I’m not gna do anything after the club” https://youtu.be/U4k1896_ApI (5:55-6:21)

With that, Chinx left and went the direction of the club. At that time, he’d normally have his entourage with him that he could trust to watch his back as he was not only at the time an artist in the spotlight to be the next big rapper being signed to French Montana’s Coke Boys label, 

but Chinx also had a past in the gang and drug environment. On that particular night, his trusted people wasn’t around. He had a video shoot the following day in New Jersey and most of them lived there, so it was decided it was best for them to stay instead of traveling to the city just to go back with him the next day https://youtu.be/KMa1R0knjpE (0:33-0:48)

So instead, Chinx Drugz called another friend and Coke Boy affiliate, Yemen Cheese who agree to come along as to not leave Chinx alone without anyone for support in the event something happened https://youtu.be/KMa1R0knjpE (0:20-0:32)

Little did they known, something would happen. They arrived at the club, and it was a great turn-out. Chinx was on stage performing and having a grand time. The crowd was loving it. From all accounts, it was a night to remember with no animosity or negativity lingering in the atmosphere. DJ Babyface would be the one handling the music for the event that night. 

It was his first time, but would unknowingly be his last time with Chinx Drugz

The event was a success https://youtu.be/atq5F6SG7WQ (0:19-0:32) At 3am Chinx and his friend Yemen decided to head out. At that point they then decided to head to an afterhours hookah location to continue the festivities but upon arrival, the place was closed https://youtu.be/ZSAF7ki8iVc (0:06-0:26) 

The next move they made would be crucial to Chinx’s survival. They decided to call it a night, Chinx said they’d go to his place where Yemen could then take a cab and get home as it would be an easier commute. Surveillance footage from outside of the Hookah location show their vehicle, a silver Porsche leaving the area

For the next 10-15 minutes they were driving listening to Chinx’s music, still high off drinking the night away. To them, it was a fun end to a hyped night https://youtu.be/ZSAF7ki8iVc (0:30-0:44)

Seconds later around 4am, their vehicle stopped at a red light, that’s when assailants that were tailing their vehicle took their moment to strike. Gunshots were heard, and at that point Yemen felt something piercing into his ribs, then he felt blood coming from his side but had no time to react before more shots started firing into the vehicle https://youtu.be/ZSAF7ki8iVc (0:45-0:59) 

Chinx Drugz would jump on top of Yemen, taking the brunt of the attack, being hit upwards of 7 times while Yemen was hit twice, one bullet puncturing his lungs https://youtu.be/smyl6Q75s_4 (0:10-0:19) It’s almost as if he knew he wouldn’t make it out alive and tried to at least save the life of his friend https://youtu.be/VxgJ_Uwqlg0 (0:45-1:06)

At that point, time timer on Chinx Drugz life was quickly ticking down. He was still alive after the attack, and with his last breath told Yemen to drive. Being in critical condition himself, he reached over to the steering wheel and was able to stare the car a short distance before hitting a parked car in front of a Dunkin’ Donuts as the assailant’s vehicle made their escape 

Using whatever strength was left, he saw police officers and rushed to them for help while he himself was slowly dying https://youtu.be/smyl6Q75s_4 (0:20-0:53) Police at the scene recall Chinx having as much as what appeared to be 15 bullet wounds, in which some may have been exit wounds. 

They also recovered 9-millimeter shell castings at the scene, which they state all came from one shooter https://youtu.be/Y9Ddcp0DOAY (1:28-1:42)

They were taken to the Jamaica Hospital Medical Center where Lionel Pickens aka Chinx Drugz unfortunately was pronounced dead on his way to the hospital

Yemen Cheese was given an 15% chance of survival and luckily pulled through his injuries https://youtu.be/lLu6LQr6acw (0:30-0:41)

Investigators would arrive to find the bullet riddled vehicle with blood stains revealing the tragedy that just occurred

Chinx’s wife, would awake around 5am to find Chinx no where back home. Her next reaction was to call his phone, but he didn’t pick up. In her mind she brushed it off as nothing, thinking he probably went to the studio https://youtu.be/U4k1896_ApI (3:07-3:24) Approximately 5 minutes later, she received a phone call from his manager informing her that detectives called saying Chinx had been shot and transported to the hospital, and they want her to give them a call. The worse still was yet to sink in within her mind that maybe, Chinx was gone https://youtu.be/jYZtPw-Zpw0 (0:07-0:39)

That would change when she gave the detectives a call only to be told to come to the hospital but not to come alone if she’s driving. Right then and there, his wife knew that she was on her way to receive bad news, and that exactly was the case when she arrived https://youtu.be/U4k1896_ApI (0:37-4:06) 

The hip hop community was left in mourning along with his family and friends and shared their condolences for those hurting 

The search was on to find out who could possibly have felt such animosity towards Chinx that they’d hunt him down, ambush him, and take his life. Hip Hop cop Derrick Parker believes it was no random act but that Chinx was set up to be murdered https://youtu.be/aktHbMyRcGE (0:52-1:10) 

Time would pass, and there were no positive updates about the murder case. Persons began fearing the case would end at a dead end like so many hip hop homicides prior https://youtu.be/VCx25WKBANQ (0:11-0:22) https://youtu.be/VCx25WKBANQ (0:38-1:04) The region had little camera footage, the perpetrators timed their attack in a blind spot where construction works were being done https://youtu.be/8IGa1R3aoX8 (7:20-8:00) https://youtu.be/8IGa1R3aoX8 (0:39-0:50)

That would change approximately 5 months after Chinx was murdered. According to the detective, an aspiring rapper by the name of Quincy Homere was pulled over by the cops. They were smoking marijuana and arrested, but cops found a .45 caliber pistol in the vehicle. While being interviewed by detectives, Quincy would state that he knows the two guys who murdered Chinx Drugz, and that would be the turning point in the case https://youtu.be/L5IAm9y2_Xc (0:00-0:19) Detectives would set up a proffer interview 

for Quincy to tell them everything he knows about the murder, but he never showed up to court. The reason later being found out to be because he was involved in a bank robbery in November 2015 at a Wells Fargo bank in Hampstead, Long Island and he was luckily ID’d as one of the assailants of the bank robbery that stole $375,710 https://youtu.be/L5IAm9y2_Xc (0:20-0:37)

In the robbery, Quincy bashed a bank employee in the face with the butt of an AK-47 rifle as he and others proceeded to announce a robbery 

https://nypost.com/2017/12/18/man-accused-in-chinxs-murder-takes-plea-for-bank-robbery/

Detectives caught their big break. From that robbery, they obtained an old cell phone number belonging to Quincy, and pulling data they found out that Quincy’s cellphone was at the Red Wolf club the night Chinx was murdered. Not only that, the cellphone also pinned Quincy at being at the Hookah Bar Chinx and Yemen went to, and then at the murder site, leading to detectives discovering that Quincy allegedly stalked, hunted, and murdered Chinx Drugz in cold blood https://youtu.be/L5IAm9y2_Xc (0:30-0:58)

32 year old Quincy Homere was already locked up facing charges from the bank robbery 

And a second suspect, 26 year old Jamar Hill who was also already locked up on a 5-year sentence since May 2015 for a separate robbery was also pinned down as the other person involved in Chinx’s murder

It took approximately 2 and a half years but on December 14^th 2017, detectives gathered enough evidence to arrest both men who were already locked up charges connected to Chinx Drugz murder https://youtu.be/-FAZPekCJlo (1:12-1:50)

Both suspects were charged with murder, attempted murder, assault and two counts of possession of a weapon and pleaded not guilty and were held without bail https://youtu.be/tckNsLAg6KU (0:39-1:13) 

Homere also faced separate gun and marijuana possession charges from October 2015 on a case in which he had stopped appearing in court 

What’s even more heartbreaking about this entire homicide, is what the investigation uncovered. According to an NYPD official, it’s alleged that the motive for the murder stems from a conflict that dates back nearly a decade

According to Lt. Richard Rudolph, Commanding Officer of the Queens South Homicide Squad, Quincy Homere, 32, and Jamar Hill, 26, “hunted” and killed Chinx Drugz due to a clash that took place while Chinx was incarcerated. According to Rudolph, Chinx and Homere fought each other on Sept. 27, 2009, while both were housed on Rikers Island and Quincy Homere probably got the worst of the beating and wanted revenge, even more so when he saw Chinx’s career was blowing up and not his

The feud would reignite years later, when Homere showed up at a Chinx performance at SoundGarden Hall in Philadelphia on April 24, 2015. The two would get into a verbal altercation, which allegedly resulted in Homere being blacklisted from the other rap stars, which only enraged his jealousy and anger more on his quest for revenge https://youtu.be/895drdHi8Bo (0:14-0:26)

The rest, was history, leading to the murder of Chinx Drugz.

https://www.xxlmag.com/chinx-murdered-six-year-grudge-nypd-lieutenant/

Now that the suspects were apprehended, close friend and label boss, French Montana recalled seeing Quincy Homere at Chinx Drugz funeral https://youtu.be/eEI9JLrB7G0 (2:30-2:40) https://youtu.be/eEI9JLrB7G0 (2:56-3:03) This piece of information in itself nearly also resulted in another innocent man getting into trouble unprovoked. Fans and bloggers reaching for any news to boost their fame began searching for evidence of the alleged murderer, Quincy Homere at the funeral, and a series of photos began circulating with the alleged evidence

However, the person that’s allegedly in the photos with Chinx’s hat on later came out stating he was not Homere and urged persons to stop tagging him as the murdered as he was actually a close friend of Chinx. He was not Homere but looked similar to the murdered and went by the name Tana Streetheat on his social media platforms. His Instagram now Tanastreetheattv

https://hip-hopvibe.com/news/photo-surfaces-of-the-man-who-killed-chinx-drugz-in-2015-but-this-photo-isnt-of-the-actual-killer-instead-its-tanastreetheat-an-actual-friend-of-chinxs/

Things were spiraling out of control. Chinx Drugz was clearly loved and persons were out to gather whatever evidence they could to smear his killer for all to see, while others were just out to ride the wave of fame putting information, even if it could have gone terribly wrong identifying the wrong person. Another piece of critical information that was also spread by some, was that Jamar Hill died of a heart attack in 2018, but that was incorrect. The person who died of a heart attack was the defense attorney of Jamar who went by the name Deron Castro

https://queenseagle.com/all/2018/8/22/its-not-worth-it-chinx-murder-suspect-tells-kids

https://www.gofundme.com/f/f5hgz-support-for-the-castro-family

Currently, the case is still underway. Both are looking at 25 to life if convicted. In July 2018, one of the suspects, Jamar Hill agreed to cooperate with authorities to enter into a plea deal, but to date, the case is still active https://youtu.be/895drdHi8Bo (0:27-0:39)

https://nypost.com/2018/07/16/man-accused-of-killing-chinx-is-in-plea-deal-talks/

Hopefully it ends with justice being served for Chinx Drugz. Rest in peace Chinx Drugz https://youtu.be/U4k1896_ApI (10:20-11:43)