Jamel Davis, a 43-year-old Brooklyn, New York City, rapper performing as Sinthoro Upper, was fatally shot by his teenage stepson on April 12, 2026, at the New York City Housing Authority Walt Whitman Houses in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. The dispute began over marijuana smoke that the teenager’s pregnant mother feared could harm her unborn child.
Davis’ girlfriend, who is three months pregnant with his child, had texted her 16-year-old son, Tristan Hightower, asking him to stop smoking marijuana in their apartment. When the teenager denied smoking, the argument quickly spiraled, with Hightower verbally attacking his mother.
Family Dispute Turns Fatal
Davis got out of bed to defend his girlfriend when he heard the teenager berating her. His brother Geo Miller, 40, told the New York Daily News that the confrontation started because the boy was “being so disrespectful, calling her some names.” Miller recounted that his brother said, “Hey bro, why are you talking to your mother like that? If you wasn’t smoking that’s fine but you don’t need to talk to her like that.”
Hightower then went into his bedroom, grabbed a handgun he had concealed in a shoebox, and fired at Davis, striking him in the chest and arm. The shooting occurred around 10:50 a.m. inside the family’s apartment on Cumberland Walk near Carlton Avenue. Medics rushed Davis to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Prior Warning Signs
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said that Hightower had two prior domestic incident reports involving his mother in 2025. During one of those incidents, the mother informed officers her son had access to a firearm — believed to be the same weapon used in the killing. The teenager now faces charges of murder and criminal possession of a loaded firearm, with prosecutors yet to determine whether he will be tried as an adult or juvenile.
After fleeing the apartment immediately following the shooting, Hightower was apprehended in the Bronx on April 21, nine days later. Kenny said the teenager looked “very disheveled, like he’s been out on the street since the incident,” when officers took him into custody. Kenny noted that it remained unclear whether Hightower had the weapon on him at the time of the arrest, as a warrant was required before officers could search his backpack.
Rising Star Cut Down
The timing of Davis’ death was particularly tragic given his recent success. His song “Slidin'” had started receiving regular airplay on local hip-hop radio stations and attracted endorsements from major artists. On March 16, 50 Cent featured the track in an Instagram reel — a moment Davis discussed with amazement on the “Talk Ya Talk” podcast just three weeks before his murder. Lloyd Banks, Rich the Kid, Fredro Starr, and even boxer Zab Judah also publicly threw their support behind the track.
“He was finally getting the recognition he worked for,” a close friend told HOT 97. “The radio just started picking him up. This was his moment.”
Community Leader Remembered
Davis and Miller had grown up without parents, making the rapper’s eventual success all the more meaningful to those who knew him. Friends and family remembered Davis as a mentor to neighborhood youth who helped organize community basketball tournaments. He had been in a relationship with his girlfriend for approximately eight years, and the expected baby would have been his third child. He is survived by a 16-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son.
Following the shooting, neighbors created a makeshift memorial outside Davis’s building with candles, flowers, and handwritten notes. Community members described him as a people person whose influence extended well beyond music, someone who connected with kids, mothers, and grandmothers throughout the neighborhood.