Gillie Da King says slain North Philly teen Noah Scurry killed his son YNG Cheese, but police say there’s no evidence
Police said that they were aware of the allegation but that no evidence supported it. The investigation continues.
After rapper and social media star Gillie Da King said Wednesday that a 17-year-old who was shot to death last month in North Philadelphia killed his son Devin Spady in 2023, police said they have no evidence connecting the teen to Spady’s slaying.
“Through evidence I don’t have anyone connected definitively that is responsible for this homicide,” Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore said.
Police are still investigating Spady’s death and are aware of Gillie’s remarks and rumors online, he said. Investigators continue to review social media posts and search for surveillance footage in the unsolved case.
Spady, 25, who followed in his father’s footsteps as a rapper and went by YNG Cheese, was standing with a group of men on an Olney street corner when he was fatally shot in the back, police said. He was the father of a young son and was living in Wyncote when he was killed.
Gillie made the connection between his son’s killing and 17-year-old Noah Scurry in a conversation with former NFL player and sports analyst Shannon Sharpe on Sharpe’s hugely popular interview podcast, Club Shay Shay.
After Sharpe brought up Scurry, who was a student and basketball player at Samuel Fels High School, in a conversation about gun violence, Gillie interjected to say Scurry was his son’s killer.
“That’s who killed my son,” Gillie told Sharpe. “The 17-year-old basketball player that just got shot 17 times, that’s who killed my son.”
Gillie, who previously went by Gillie Da Kid and was born Nasir Fard, pointed to a rap music video he said Scurry had posted the day before his death under a rapper alias, JokerOTV. He said Scurry can be seen in the video wearing a Joker mask and holding a gun.
Gillie also said that his son was not the intended target in the shooting that killed him and that Scurry was soon going to be arrested for his son’s killing when he was fatally shot. Police said Scurry’s slaying appeared to be a targeted attack.
“When you do something in the streets, the streets know,” Gillie said.
Gillie lamented the effects of gun violence on young people in Philadelphia.
“These kids actually think that you can’t make it as a rapper unless you killed somebody,” said Gillie, who was a founding member of the hip-hop group Major Figgas from the Erie Avenue section of North Philadelphia and cohosts the popular Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast. “This is the mindset.”
Gillie did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reached by phone Thursday morning, Spady’s mother, Tara “Toy” Fears, said she had seen the interview but had not heard from police of any alleged connection between Scurry and her son’s death.
”I can’t even really say, I don’t really know how to feel about this,” Fears said of Gillie’s assertion.
Scurry, 17, was gunned down in the driveway of his home as he was getting ready to go to school, police said.
There were at least 20 shell casings at the scene of the shooting. No arrests have been made and police continue to investigate.
Scurry’s cousin Breanna McGlynn, 30, dismissed Gillie’s allegation and said she found it unfathomable that her younger cousin could have killed anyone. She suggested that the rapper, by publicly accusing the teen, was looking for a way to boost his profile and stay relevant.
“Have they provided proof? Because his son died more than a year ago,” she said Thursday. “They’re literally dragging my family through the mud. It’s literally just to get their name out there.”
Social media influencers like Gillie have continued to discuss Scurry, his past, and his family, McGlynn said, and many of Scurry’s younger relatives have been exposed to harmful images and videos because of it.
“Let the family mourn in peace,” she said. “Leave the story where it is and let the police do their job.”