TakeOff’s alleged killer is planning to claim “self-defense” in the rapper’s ongoing murder case, despite allegedly trying to obtain fake plane tickets and an expedited passport to flee the country.
These details were unveiled during a court hearing on Wednesday (December 15), where attorneys for Patrick Xavier Clark, 33, said they’re in the process of building a “valid and meritorious” case arguing their client acted in self-defense during the fatal shooting of the Migos hitmaker.
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“We feel comfortable that when the time is right that Mr. Clark will have a valid and meritorious claim for self-defense,” said Letitia Quinones, one of Clark’s attorneys, following the hearing. She didn’t share further details, but did suggest that Clark only fired after someone shot at him first. This contradicts the police’s claim that Clark fired the first shot.
Clark’s attorneys also sought to reduce his bail from $2 million to $100,000, but State District Judge Josh Hill was initially hesitant to do so, believing he could be a flight risk. Hill added that Clark’s “Google searches for fake tickets cause me a great deal of concern.”
Elsewhere in the hearing, Houston Police Sgt. Michael Burrow testified that a review of Clark’s cell phone after his arrest found he had made online searches for fake plane tickets.
Investigators added that they discovered multiple searches on his cell phone for news articles related to the shooting and whether he had yet been named a suspect. “It was my belief he was preparing to flee the country,” Burrow said.
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Quinones denied this and said her client had merely canceled a previously booked trip to Mexico before his arrest and that on the day of his arrest he had been searching for a residence within the city.
Hill ultimately agreed to reduce Clark’s bond from $2 million to $1 million, but Quinones said she hopes Hill reduces it to $300,000 since anything higher can’t be afforded by Clark’s family.
Prosecutors pushed back on this claim, and cited a phone call Clark made from jail to his family in which he said $2 million “can be made right now.”
They also argued Clark’s lifestyle as a DJ at nightclubs likely meant he had a good amount of money set aside, but Quinones said Clark’s claim was just “a young man talking and talking too much.”
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TakeOff was shot and killed outside of a Houston bowling alley on November 1. According to an affidavit, the shooting took place after a fistfight ensued in Quavo’s defense during a “lucrative” dice game.
