JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville's violent gangster rap beef has crossed over state lines with the recent sentencing of a man with close ties to Yungeen Ace. Caleb Sheffield, 20, was sentenced in December to four years in a North Carolina prison on multiple charges of possessing an unregistered machinegun. The arrest occurred the day after a July 3, 2021 high-speed chase with North Carolina State Highway Patrol on US Hwy 64.
Sheffield, a Jacksonville drill rapper who performs under the name ATK Ybeezzzy, is one of four men who were inside a Hyundai traveling at 91 mph in a 65 mph zone near Pittsboro, North Carolina, police said.
Troopers initiated a traffic stop and the Hyundai stopped in the left lane of traffic but did not pull off the roadway, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office Middle District of North Carolina. The Trooper got out of his cruiser and walked to the driver’s side of the Hyundai which suddenly pulled off, the news release states.
The Trooper got back into his car and pursued the Hyundai which led police on a chase reaching speeds in excess of 130 mph. The chase ended when the Hyundai spun out and all four men in the vehicle jumped out and ran.
Police found four firearms including one machine gun, over 120 rounds of ammunition, black ski masks, and a ballistic vest in the abandoned Hyundai. Multiple agencies were involved in a manhunt for the "armed and dangerous" men.
Three of the men were arrested soon after the chase. Sheffield was arrested the following day. One of the suspects, Adrian Lowery, was sentenced in November to 71 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm.
The North Carolina States Attorney's Office made note of Jacksonville's rival rap gang wars.
"Sheffield posted a rap video to YouTube 13 days before the incident in which he rapped about putting a switch on a Glock," a news release from the N.C. States Attorney's Office states.
Following a four-day trial in August 2022, a North Carolina jury found Sheffield guilty of two counts of possession of an unregistered machinegun, which was a Glock Model 17 9mm caliber pistol, equipped with a switch that turns it into a fully automatic weapon, a federal offense.
In June 2019, Jacksonville police arrested Sheffield charging him with four counts of attempted murder after they said he opened fire on a car with four occupants injuring two. Sheffield, who was 17 at the time, was charged as an adult and given a $1.1 million bond. He was released three weeks later after his attorneys produced video showing Sheffield in Orlando at a basketball tournament when the shooting occurred.
Sheffield is a close associate of Kenyatta Bullard, also known as Yungeen Ace. Both are affiliated with the ATK gang, which is named after Yungeen Ace - Aces Top Killers.
ATK has been in a high-profile and deadly feud with another Jacksonville gang called KTA, which stands for Kill Them All. "Another rapper, Julio Foolio, was associated with the KTA gang," the N.C. States Attorney's Office news release notes.
Foolio and Yungeen Ace were both scheduled to perform in North Carolina during the July 4th, 2021 weekend, the news release states.
This violent feud has resulted in multiple attempts on both rappers' lives. Most notably in June 2018 when Yungeen Ace was in a car with three men at St. Johns Towncenter. Gunmen opened fire on their car. Three of the occupants were killed. Yungeen Ace was the only survivor. He survived another attempt on his life when gunmen opened fire on Ace and his associates at a hotel in Brunswick, Georgia in March 2019. Another man, who was with the rapper, was killed.
Foolio was grazed in the leg when gunmen opened fire on him in Houston, Texas in July 2020. He survived another attempt on his life in November 2021 when shooters tried to kill him while he was outside of a home in Jacksonville's Springfield community.
