The suspect arrested and charged with the murder of Migos rapper Takeoff is being held on a $2 million bond.
Patrick Xavier Clark, 33, was arrested Thursday in Houston and “charged with the murder of Takeoff,” Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said during a press briefing. He appeared at his first court appearance late Friday.
The hefty bond was given on the grounds he is a flight risk. However, if he can post bond, the judge said he will be held under 24-hour house arrest, ABC News reported.
Clark had purchased tickets to Mexico two days before his arrest and applied for an expedited passport, which is why prosecutors also labeled him a flight risk.
However, Letitia Quinones, Clark’s attorney, told ABC, “That was something that was already pre-planned, and it was counseled before he was arrested. So, I think that’s important. He wasn’t trying to go anywhere.”
His defense team also says he is a college student and this is his first criminal arrest.
Investigators were able to determine that Clark was the alleged shooter through shooting reconstruction and ballistics evidence, Houston Police Sgt. Michael Burrow said. Police also obtained cellphone and surveillance footage that has “surfaced over time,” he added.
Prosecutors revealed during the hearing that the suspect was captured on video firing in the direction of Takeoff. He had a gun in one hand and a wine bottle in the other. He allegedly left that bottle at the scene and left the scene in a car. Investigators were able to identify him through fingerprints left on the wine bottle and license plate information from the car he left in.
Takeoff, whose real name is Kirshnik Khari Ball, was fatally shot at 810 Billiards & Bowling following a private event in Houston in the early hours of Nov. 1. He was 28.
Authorities say an argument transpired between some of the party guests, which “led to multiple unknown males firing pistols at each other.”
It’s possible a “lucrative dice game” was the reason for the argument, Burrow said during the briefing.
“I can tell you Takeoff was not involved in playing the dice game, he was not involved in the argument that happened outside, he was not armed,” Burrow said. “He was an innocent bystander.”
