Isaiah Chance's Godmother Testifies About Supporting ''Aspiring Rapper' Before Julio Foolio Murder

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]May proceed. Please state your name and spell it for the court reporter.

[00:00:04]My name is Meshal Smith, m e s h a l l s m i t h.

[00:00:11]And where do you live, ma'am? I live in Jacksonville, Florida.

[00:00:14]How long have you been there?

[00:00:17]58 years.

[00:00:19]And uh what do you do for a living?

[00:00:21]Me and my husband has a trucking business and I'm also I have a tax office.

[00:00:29]You prepare tax returns? Yes. Okay.

[00:00:32]How do you know Isaiah Chance? Um I know Isaiah I knew Isaiah in the womb before he even became became out of the womb.

[00:00:42]I knew his mom when she was preg- pregnant with him. What's your relation to him?

[00:00:48]My relationship with his mom? Well, what's your relationship to him? To him, I'm his godmother. Okay.

[00:00:54]How do you know his mother?

[00:00:56]Her and my daughter was best friends and she became part of the family.

[00:01:01]So you've known Mr. Chance his entire life. Yes, I have.

[00:01:05]Um did you babysit him when he was young?

[00:01:08]Yes, I um watched him. I went over to his house also and he came to my house.

[00:01:14]Did you attend uh family events uh family events, celebrations, birthdays, that sort of thing?

[00:01:20]Yes, I did.

[00:01:23]How would you describe Isaiah as a young child?

[00:01:26]Um he was quiet.

[00:01:30]He pretty much stayed to self.

[00:01:34]He was a love He was loving.

[00:01:37]Did you ever notice any behavioral problems with him while he was growing up? No.

[00:01:44]How was he with his brothers and sisters?

[00:01:46]He was well, he was the only boy for a while and he was protective of his sisters and his mother.

[00:01:56]But they all had a good relationship a good relationship.

[00:02:01]Um as he was growing up, I think I think at some point we discussed um him getting involved in sports.

[00:02:07]Yes, he played football for a brief moment. Did you go to his games?

[00:02:13]Yes.

[00:02:15]What happened with that? Did he keep up with that? Um I don't think that was something that he was interested in, so no, he didn't continue to play football.

[00:02:28]Um what was your relationship with Isaiah like?

[00:02:32]Well, my relationship with him was I was more or less like a confidant, like he would call me and we would talk about anything and everything.

[00:02:46]He would come to you with his problems?

[00:02:48]Yes. Would he tell you the truth? Yes.

[00:02:53]Um in all those years of confiding in you, have you ever known him to lie to you?

[00:02:58]No, he No, he never lied to me. That's one thing that I can, you know, admit about him that he would tell me the truth.

[00:03:09]If he was wrong about something, would he tell you that?

[00:03:12]Yes, he would.

[00:03:18]Now, you were close to him when he was younger. Did you stay close to him through high school?

[00:03:23]Yes, I stayed close to him throughout his life throughout his whole life.

[00:03:32]Um did you ever discuss his interests and goals as he got older?

[00:03:36]Yes, we talked about a lot of things.

[00:03:40]Um one of the things I know that he he wanted to um go to school to be a merchant merchant seaman.

[00:03:48]And did he achieve that?

[00:03:49]Um no, no, he didn't, but he did work.

[00:03:54]He wanted to work.

[00:03:55]So, he did work.

[00:04:00]Uh what kind of jobs did he do?

[00:04:02]I know that he was doing some DoorDash-ing.

[00:04:06]He was doing Uber-ing.

[00:04:10]And I want to say that he worked at a warehouse.

[00:04:17]Did he also have an interest in music?

[00:04:20]Yes.

[00:04:22]And uh what was your experience with that?

[00:04:25]Well, he he was a inspiring rapper.

[00:04:30]And he would he would send um me Well, he sent me a request over on Instagram and wanted me to look at one of his videos.

[00:04:41]So, he kept me involved, you know, with his music.

[00:04:50]Did you actually help him make one of his videos?

[00:04:52]Um yes, he needed some money.

[00:04:57]He needed some money for I guess to finish up his video shoot.

[00:05:03]And he asked me would I send it to him, and I did. You supported him in that.

[00:05:09]You said what, sir? You supported him in that.

[00:05:11]>> Yes, I was. I was very supportive of him.

[00:05:14]Uh we also talked about his love of animals earlier.

[00:05:18]Tell us about that.

[00:05:20]Um me and my husband uh put a pit had some puppies.

[00:05:26]And Isaiah and his mom came over one day.

[00:05:30]And it's this one puppy. I think he was the runt. I want to say he was the runt of the puppies. But, he kept following Isaiah around.

[00:05:39]And every time Isaiah came over, that puppy was would follow him around.

[00:05:46]But, me and my husband, we had decided on that we was going to give him that puppy because he took to that puppy and that puppy took to him.

[00:05:58]Um, did Isaiah have any issues when he was born?

[00:06:02]He was a pre- He was a preemie. He came early. Yes. And you were around during that time? Yes.

[00:06:09]Um, as he grew up, um, watching him as uh you did, did you ever see any signs of abuse or trauma? No, I didn't.

[00:06:17]What about his relationship with his mom? How was that?

[00:06:20]Oh.

[00:06:23]They, um, the relationship that they have, every child should want to have that with their mother. They are very close.

[00:06:35]In all the years that you were his confidant, somebody he talked to, did he ever mention anything about gang activity?

[00:06:41]No, he never mentioned anything to me about nothing dealing with a gang.

[00:06:48]Did he ever talk to you about friends who had been shot or killed?

[00:06:52]No, he didn't.

[00:06:54]Did you ever see him with a gun?

[00:06:56]No, I never saw him with a gun.

[00:06:59]When you would talk to him, check in on him, where would he be?

[00:07:03]Most of the time he would be at home, at his mom's house.

[00:07:12]Have you been following this case as it's progressed?

[00:07:16]On and off.

[00:07:18]>> [snorts] >> When you hear what's being said about him in this case, is that the Isaiah you know?

[00:07:24]>> Objection, your honor.

[00:07:25]I must sustain the objection.

[00:07:37]Do you still love your godson?

[00:07:38]Yes, I do. Do you intend to keep in touch with him no matter what happens?

[00:07:42]Yes, I am.

[00:07:45]Is there anything else you want the jury to know?

[00:07:47]Yes.

[00:07:49]The Isaiah that I know I don't know the Isaiah that is being portrayed.

[00:07:58]The The one, like I said, that I know I love him and I'm going to always love him.

[00:08:07]And he's he's a good boy.

[00:08:12]I don't know this side.

[00:08:15]Thank you, ma'am.

[00:08:16]Have a moment, please, Your Honor? Yes.

[00:08:20]Pass the witness.

[00:08:21]Okay, cross. Yes.

[00:08:27]Miss Smith, you had a wonderful relationship with Isaiah Chance, is that correct?

[00:08:31]>> Yes, I have. You've known him since he was a baby. Yes. You have witnessed what a wonderful, loving, supportive mother he had. Yes. He grew up in a wonderful home.

[00:08:43]Yes. No abuse. None.

[00:08:47]And you have also provided him with support. Yes, I have.

[00:08:52]>> You've even financially supported his music videos. Yes. The drill rap music videos that he produces.

[00:09:01]Yes.

[00:09:03]And you have stated here that he was a confidant of yours or he he confided in you, is that correct?

[00:09:11]>> Yes, he did. Talk to you about his dreams and aspirations.

[00:09:16]Yes. He wanted to be a sea merchant, is that correct?

[00:09:19]>> Yes. And you've known him to have plenty of jobs, is that also correct? Yes.

[00:09:24]Okay. I have nothing further, Your Honor. Okay, redirect.

[00:09:28]Okay, may this witness be excused? Yes.

[00:09:30]Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah. I'm sorry. Okay, thank you, ma'am. You're free to go.

[00:09:34]You're welcome. All right, who's your next witness?