A Brooklyn rapper with a popular new song was fatally shot by his stepson when he confronted the teen about smoking weed near the boy’s pregnant mom, police said Tuesday.
Tristan Hightower, 16, retrieved a gun from a shoebox in his room and killed his hip-hop stepdad, Jamel Davis, 43 — who performed under the stage name Sinthoro Upper — in NYCHA’s Walt Whitman Houses in Fort Greene on April 12 when an argument between the two escalated, cops said.
Jamel Davis, 43, who performed under the stage name Sinthoro Upper, was shot and killed by his 16-year-old stepson during a dispute about smoking weed in the home, cops said. Sinthoro Upper / Instagram The fatal fight kicked off when the boy’s mother, who is three months pregnant, texted her son that she didn’t want him smoking in the apartment because she feared the impact it could have on her unborn baby’s health — an ongoing dispute in the family, authorities said.
Davis — whose new song “Slidin” recently started gaining traction on local hip-hop stations and was used in Instagram reel by rapper 50 Cent, according to the Daily News — ended up intervening when the text exchange became a verbal dispute, police said.
During the argument, the teen retreated to his bedroom, got a gun from a shoebox and fired at his stepfather, striking him once in the chest and once in the arm, cops said.
The stepdad was rushed to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
“It’s devastating for the community because we were all rooting for him, and he finally got his shot, and now he was taken away,” pal Anthony Mabry told the outlet.
“He is 43, and people were doubting him, people saying, ‘Pass the mic.’ But he stayed with it. And he was finally getting that taste — and it’s like, ‘You took it from him.’ ”
Hightower was arrested in the Bronx on Tuesday morning looking “very disheveled, like he’s been out on the street since the incident,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told The Post.
The teen had two previous domestic-incident reports involving his mom, 38, at the residence in 2025. In one instance, she told cops her son had access to a firearm — apparently the one later used in the shooting.
The shooting happened inside the Walt Whitman Houses in Fort Green, Brooklyn. ABC7 Kenny said he did not know whether Hightower had the gun on him when he was arrested Tuesday. He said a warrant was required before they could search his backpack.
Hightower has been charged with murder and criminal possession of a loaded firearm, cops said. Court will determine whether he’s going through as an adult or a juvenile.
Mabry couldn’t get over the tragic timing of his friend’s death.
“He was doing the music so long, and they just put his music on the radio,” the friend said. “He was grinding all of his life.
“God finally gave him his blessing within the month of this happening.”
