Texas Country/Hip Hop Artist Charged With Murder After Shooting Man He Thought Was Following Him

A Texas “country” music artist finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation.

29-year-old Christopher Jerome Blanton Jr. is known in the music world as C’ing Jerome, and his sound has previously been described as a mix of country, R&B and rap. He calls it “Hood Country,” but his most recent single is titled, “When I Drink.”

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But he now finds himself in the middle of a very serious situation, and it all started in the North Texas area when Blanton became suspicious of a grey car that he suspected was following him.

The country music singer took notice of the vehicle at the same gas station as him, and later noticed that the grey car was driving slightly ahead of him while he was on his way to his music studio. At one point, the artist felt incredibly threatened, and Blanton Jr. allegedly pulled up next to the car he suspected was following him and fired two shots into the vehicle… only because he claims he saw the driver of the grey car with a pistol of their own.

The Fort Worth Police Department later revealed that the driver of the grey vehicle was 32-year-old Cody Davontae Scott. It’s been confirmed that the two men did not know each other, and Scott crashed into a light pole following the shots being fired into his vehicle.

Cody Scott, the man who Christopher Blanton Jr. suspected of following him, was taken to the hospital in critical condition following the incident on Monday. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his injuries and died the following day. Investigators searched Scott’s vehicle and found no weapons inside.

As for Blanton, he was stopped by local police later on Monday. The country singer was riding around in a pickup truck with his friend, and they were both taken into custody for questioning. Police later confirmed that Blanton’s friend was not involved in the incident, though some reports suggest that the friend was in the vehicle when the country singer opened fire.

The artist known as C’ing Jerome now faces multiple charges, including murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Fort Worth police are actively investigating the violent incident, and Officer Buddy Calzada with the Fort Worth Police Department says that they are currently struggling to find answers:

“There was no confrontation. There was no road rage incident. This individual that shot at this victim literally thought that they were either being followed or chased. They don’t know each other, they don’t have any kind of connection from the past.

I think the thing that’s hard for us to understand right now is that there’s no connection between these two individuals, the suspect and the victim. They don’t have a prior beef with each other. There’s no kind of, you know, boyfriend, girlfriend mixed in the situation, absolutely nothing.”

The North Texas country music artist is currently being held at the Fort Worth detention facility. Blanton’s bond has been set at $30,000. The Fort Worth Police Department says the investigation is still ongoing, and they’re using witness accounts to better understand how the violent act played out.

Blanton’s assistant and attorney were reached out to for comment by NBC 5, and they both declined to make any comments.

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