Mother charged with giving teens rifle to kill West Philly rapper YBC Dul

The mother of a 16-year-old accused of killing a West Philadelphia rapper has also been charged with murder after investigators said she gave a rifle to her teenage son and his friends moments before they set out to kill the man.

Latoya Donaldson, 39, was arrested Monday in connection with the high-profile death of Abdul Vicks, also known as YBC Dul, the rapper and gang leader killed in a drive-by shooting in Olney on Aug. 23.

Donaldson now joins her son, Aiden Waters, and two of his friends behind bars.

During the investigation into Vicks’ death, detectives recovered Ring camera footage from inside Waters’ home that showed Donaldson bringing a rifle, inside a gun case, downstairs and handing it to the teens, according to a law enforcement source. Investigators believe the teens then used that rifle to shoot multiple times into Vicks’ car as he drove along the 100 block of West Olney Avenue, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

» READ MORE: Jail calls, burned getaway cars, and forensics: How Philly police say they linked Aiden Waters to the killing of rapper, gang leader YBC Dul

Vicks, 25, was struck in the chest and one hand. A friend who was also riding in the car rushed him to Einstein Medical Center, but he died a short time later.

Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore declined to discuss the specifics of Donaldson’s role in the crime, citing the ongoing investigation, but said police “recovered video that showed that she was definitely part of it.”

“She’s involved, she participated, and she’s being charged along with the three others,” he said.

Waters was the first teen to be charged with Vicks’ death, after detectives recovered the burned getaway car as well as forensic and video evidence linking him to the crime. Rashawn Williams, 18, and Naier Briscoe, 19, were charged in the following months.

All are members of a young gang from Olney known as “Fastbreak,” prosecutors said. The teens are accused of shooting multiple other people in the area in the weeks before Vicks’ death.

Donaldson was arrested in October and charged with drug possession, receiving stolen property, and possession of an instrument of crime. That case remains open and ongoing. Court records show that between 2009 and 2018, she was convicted of multiple counts of retail theft and served a few months in jail.

She remained in custody, held without bail.