Rapper Superstar Pride Charged With First Degree Murder

US rapper Superstar Pride (real name Cadarrius Pride) has been charged with first-degree murder, it was announced on Friday (July 21).

Pride is well known for his track that went viral on TikTok, Painting Pictures, which has millions of views on Youtube. The song also cracked the Hot 100 in February, before reaching a peak of No. 25 and going gold in April. The track even hit the top 10 of Billboard‘s Rap Airplay chart earlier this month and went No. 1 on Urban Radio for the week ending May 11.

However, the muso is now accused of killing 40-year-old Marcus Wheatley on Wednesday afternoon (July 19) in his hometown of Panola County, Mississippi, after deputies responded to a call at a house where they discovered Wheatley dead from a gunshot wound.

Pride was allegedly identified as the suspect in the shooting, and he later turned himself into police.

“During the course of the investigation, Chief Deputy Reginald Lantern was contacted by family members and notified that Pride wanted to surrender,” Officer Clinton Roberson said (as per WREG.)

Wheatley’s grandmother, Mary Ann Strong, was present at the time of the murder and told police her late grandson was Pride’s barber (as per WREG)

“He was a real soft-hearted person, did whatever he could to help anybody,” Strong said. “He was a really nice person.”

She alleged that she saw Pride come into her grandson’s home before chasing him out with a gun.

“And the young man was shooting at him and he finally shot him down,” she said, adding that she ran into the field as the gunfire continued.

“He fell here and he shot about three times after he fell and he walked over to me and he pointed the gun at me and asked if I was going to tell it.”

“And he came back out here and fired a last shot in his head,” Strong said, claiming that Pride then left in a red pickup truck that was later found abandoned.

As for what the motive behind the murder was, Pride’s father, Jeffery Anderson, admitted he had no explanation for what his son allegedly did, saying, “It’s still something that’s got to the looked into to see what all transpired. As of now, it’s just so early.”

However, Wheatley’s grandmother believes the alleged altercation came about after Wheatley refused to take part in one of Pride’s music videos.

“He wanted Marcus to follow him and he couldn’t do it,” Strong claimed. “He couldn’t help him make no more money.”

Pride has since been charged with First Degree Murder and does not have a bond at this current time.