JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An accused Jacksonville gang member accused of killing a man in 2020 asked a judge Wednesday to allow him to marry his girlfriend while he's locked up awaiting trial. Duval County Circuit Court Judge Tatiana Salvador said she's going to allow Leroy Whitaker, nicknamed ATK Scotty, to marry his girlfriend as long as it doesn't disrupt jail operations.
"Regardless of what I do, I cannot order JSO to let anyone in they don't normally let in," Salvador said Wednesday during Whitaker's pre-trial hearing. Salvador said if the state has no objections to Whitaker's proposed jailhouse nuptials, she'd allow it as long as the bride-to-be has nothing to do with Whitaker's murder case.
Prosecutors told the judge that Whitaker's girlfriend, Natalia Cruz, had no connection to the murder case.
Whitaker and co-defendant Hakeem Robinson, a Jacksonville rapper who performs under the name Ksoo, are accused of killing Charles McCormick, a Jacksonville rapper who was known as Lil Buck, in January 2020. McCormick was shot to death at Dames Pointe Plaza on Merrill Road.
Robinson is also charged with the February 2019 murder of 16-year-old Adrian Gainer Jr., a suspected gang member who went by the name Bibby.
The killings are centerpieces in a broader gang war in Jacksonville including the deaths of multiple people during the last six or so years. The deaths have been widely publicized nationally in blogs and in songs from several Jacksonville rappers associated with the gangs ATK, KTA, NHG, Backstreet, KuKu, and 6Block.
Robinson also appeared before Salvador Wednesday for a pretrial hearing in his cases. His attorneys are trying to finalize the deposition of witnesses before the August 19 trial.
