She Laughed Before Her Sentencing... Then Julio Foolio’s Mother Spoke

Ajouté : 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]Alicia Andrews was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Friday morning for her role in the fatal shooting of rapper Julio Foolio. Prior to the ruling, Andrews was seen laughing with her defense attorney.

[00:00:13]During the actual hearing, Julio Foolio's mother shared a brief, emotional testimony about the devastating toll the brutal murder has taken on their family.

[00:01:48]>> [cough] >> Thank you.

[00:02:31]>> [snorts] >> Mr. Wimbush, are you there?

[00:02:48]Yes, Your Honor.

[00:02:49]Good morning.

[00:02:51]It's 8:30, so I want to go ahead and get started. Yes, Your Honor. Lindy Alston on behalf of Mr. Martez Wimbush. He's present. And he's present, Your Honor?

[00:02:59]Okay.

[00:03:01]And where are we at on this case? Your Honor, this is a reset for pre-trial to give Mr. Wimbush time to hire private counsel. His [clears throat] family has retained Mr. Life Malcolm on the pending misdemeanor case. I have spoken to Mr. Malcolm. There seems to be a miscommunication about the representation.

[00:03:22]Um he's actually out the country and has not actually had an opportunity to speak with Mr. Wimbush in the jail. Mr. Malcolm's requesting additional time so they can communicate about the actual representation of the felony cases.

[00:03:34]But he is They have made contact with him. They have resigned a retainer for a misdemeanor case. I think the miscommunication Yes, Your Honor. There seems to be some miscommunication because while talking with his family, Mr. Malcolm was out the country and he's just requesting additional time for them to meet and hash out that.

[00:03:53]And does anybody know when he's going to be back in court? I believe he's returning today or it was really hard to hear him, but he might be returning today, but he did ask until next Monday to have an opportunity to speak with him. Okay.

[00:04:08]Um so, what I'm going to do is I'm just going to keep him on the trial docket Okay. for Tuesday morning, and I'll um if Mr. Rolfe decides to represent him, we'll address the trial on Tuesday morning, and if he doesn't, we'll address the trial on Tuesday morning. I understand.

[00:04:22]>> [clears throat] >> So, no one will be here for him? No, Judge, the defense will not be coming.

[00:04:25]Okay.

[00:04:26]And so, we're waiting Judge, she is here. This Macy's here. Okay, so I'll go ahead and let the state call their witnesses. Yes, the state would call Sandricka Thames. Okay.

[00:04:35]And then we'll ask our victim advocate to come up as well. Okay.

[00:04:47]And she can have a seat in the witness chair.

[00:04:50]>> Um we think it's easier.

[00:05:01]All right, ma'am, if you'll just stand once you get seated, if I can get you to raise your right hand.

[00:05:05]Right here.

[00:05:06]That's all right. You solemnly swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes.

[00:05:11]All right, you may put your hand down if I can get you to state your name for the record. Sandricka Thames. Okay. May I call her? Judge, she has um provided a written statement that you would like to read for the court. Okay.

[00:05:27]So, I'm going to go ahead and introduce myself. My name is Sandricka Thames.

[00:05:30]I am the mother of Charles Jones, known as King YNW Melly.

[00:05:34]I stand before this court hearing and pain that no mother should ever have to endure.

[00:05:39]My son was more than a rapper, a public figure. He was my child. He was deeply loved by his family, by his friends, and the people whose lives he touched.

[00:05:50]Since Since the day he was taken from us, my life has never been the same.

[00:05:54]The actions connected to this case did not just take one life. They destroyed an entire family emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

[00:06:03]My son was hunted, followed, and ultimately murdered in what authorities described as a coordinated plot involving multiple individuals.

[00:06:14]It is extremely painful to hear Alicia Andrews portray herself as someone who didn't know what was going on.

[00:06:22]While evidence and testimony show she traveled with the others, tracked my son's movements, and remained involved throughout the events leading to his death.

[00:06:32]Whether she pulled the trigger or not, my son would still be alive today had people not participated in carrying out this plan.

[00:06:45]A mother lives with instinct and intuition, and mine tells me that this was not ignorance.

[00:06:51]This was participation. It was calculated. They planned it.

[00:06:56]On my way driving here, every second, every minute, every hour, they could have changed their mind, they could have turned around, but yet and still, they carried on the plan to hunt my son down like a deer in woods like they were hunting.

[00:07:15]This was loyalty to violence over humanity.

[00:07:19]My son was treated like his life did not matter.

[00:07:22]He was ambushed and robbed of the chance to grow older, become a father one day, continue his career, and simply live.

[00:07:30]Every birthday, holiday, and family gathering is now filled with grief.

[00:07:35]I replay [clears throat] the memories of my son constantly.

[00:07:38]I think about his laugh, his voice, and the moments we will never get back.

[00:07:42]The trauma from his this loss follows me every single day.

[00:07:46]No sentence would ever bring Charles back to me, but accountability matters.

[00:07:50]Alicia's family can can see her.

[00:07:54]They can talk to her.

[00:07:55]She can see her child, but I can't see my child.

[00:08:00]I have to go to visit him in the wall at the cemetery.

[00:08:05]I ask that this court to remember that behind every headline is a real family suffering permanent damage.

[00:08:13]My son's life mattered. He was not disposable. The emotional devastation caused by this murder reaches far beyond the courtroom and will affect my life forever.

[00:08:24]I respectfully ask the court to impose a sentence that reflects the seriousness of the role Alicia Andrew played in the events that led to my son's death.

[00:08:36]Because she knowingly knew what was going on.

[00:08:40]Choices were made, and those choices had deadly consequences.

[00:08:44]Thank you for allowing me to speak on behalf of my son, Charles Jones.

[00:08:50]Any questions, Mr. Snow, your witness? Any questions?

[00:08:55]No, Judge. All right. Thank you. You may step back.

[00:09:01]Judge, that's the only witness So, you're not going to call All right.

[00:09:04]And if the defense is not intending to call up any witnesses, is that correct?

[00:09:08]That's correct. All right. Um so, all of the state's witnesses are in with respect to the recommendations for sentencing.

[00:09:14]Yes, Your Honor. We did um also receive the defense's motion to take judicial notice where they listed, I think, eight different cases. I saw that. It's filed in the court file just for the record, May 8th of 2026. And Judge, I noticed that they were either manslaughter cases or leaving the scene of death. However, upon reviewing them, um we did note that they are clearly distinguishable from the facts of this case. The majority of them were negotiated pleas and had reasons for a downward departure. Some of them were That was the only reason was a negotiated plea.

[00:09:51]Others were mental disorder or unsophisticated manner, isolated incident. And judge, we would argue that those are completely separate and distinct from the facts that you have in front of you, judge. Um this case was um originally filed as a murder two.

[00:10:08]The jury has spoken and we respect the jury's verdict. They have found her guilty of a manslaughter. Um but still, the facts of this case are egregious. We are talking about a person who was hunted down. Um The people that actually pulled the trigger they're going to be sentenced later and held responsible for that. But what we're asking the court to do is to give this defendant accountability for her participation in this crime. And we are going to be asking for um she scores at bottom of the guidelines 9 years um prison for the state prison. And we're going to be asking for a 15-year prison sentence based on the serious nature of this of this particular case and the way that it was um conducted and carried out. And also based on the mother of the victim this case also wanting a serious sentence reflective of the facts and nature of this particular case, judge.

[00:11:10]All right, thank you.

[00:11:12]Defense? Yes, thank you, judge. So, we are asking the court not to give a 15-year sentence in this case. We're asking the court actually to depart downward under 9.21.0026 section two B.

[00:11:29]Judge, in that section specifically states that was a accomplice to the offense and was a relatively minor participant in the criminal conduct. We believe that applies here. We also believe there are smaller subsections that apply, but that one in particular, um just based off of the jury's verdict in this case where there are four other co-defendants who were convicted of higher and much higher offenses that were actually facing the death penalty. The state recognized that there was a difference between those co-defendants and Ms. Andrews in the fact that they were convicted in and are likely to be sentenced or will be sentenced to life in this case.

[00:12:04]Um Ms. Andrews' role, after I read all the transcripts and watched the trial, is very much minor when compared to those co-defendants um in this case. So, we're asking the court to go below the guidelines. The reason why I cited or filed a motion to take judicial notice of the eight cases that I did send over to you and the court [clears throat] is not because those cases are mirror images of this case. This case is probably a unicorn. I'm not based off of the motions that we filed, like the motions for a new trial and motions for reconsideration, Judge, we have obviously believed that the facts of this case don't amount to uh a manslaughter charge. There was no manslaughter here at all in this in this case. Uh and that was argued out in the motions to trial. We won't go over that, but this case to find another case that's exactly like it was not really our intent, but we don't know that would actually bear out. Uh but that's not really our intent. The intent of filing the motion to take judicial notice of these eight cases is to see a range of different sentences to people who've been convicted of either manslaughter or some sort of act that resulted in a death that wasn't an intentional act. Um and so, all of those cases, uh if we go down the list, right, State of Florida versus Bang Stedman, um that individual received seven years in the Department of Corrections followed by eight years of probation. He scored exactly the same amount of total sentencing points as Ms. Andrews. In that instance, he uh made a statement, a spontaneous statement at the scene to officers that he shot him. I shot him. Those were his words, right?

[00:13:36]Um In a situation like that, that's more obviously more egregious than any act that Ms. Andrews is accused of doing, for committing.

[00:13:46]Going down the line of Francisco Vallejo, State of Florida, that was a 2000 case.

[00:13:52]In that situation, the victim was shot and killed on the outside of a trailer park and was initially the defendant was initially charged with second-degree murder. He pled down to manslaughter. He received a 5-year sentence in the Department of Corrections. He had the same amount of total sentencing points as Ms. Andrews at 176.

[00:14:11]There are people who had even more total sentencing points.

[00:14:14]>> [clears throat] >> Michelle Diane Young, that's the third case cited there. That individual had 180.2 total sentencing points, received a 5-year sentence in the Department of Corrections followed by 10 years of probation. And all these individuals, they are listed in and I will go through each one of them, but it's all attached to the to the motion tickets you noticed. All of their score sheets, all of their arrest affidavits, the judgments and sentences. All these individuals, none of them got 50-year sentences. The state is asking for the maximum for someone who's never been convicted of anything before in her life. Um this is her first offense and for obvious for for reasons that I've cited in the motions, the response replies, Ms. Andrews will be taking an appeal on the case on the on the the jury decision and the the rulings that were made in the trial. Right? And so she does intend to uh have a new trial if the appeal court grants it. So she's not testifying here today and no one else in the witness box testifying here today for that reason.

[00:15:14]So we're asking the court not to take into account the fact that Ms. Andrews is not on the stand testifying or or or that her parents are not on on the stand testifying on her behalf. When I asked the court to declare follow all the guidelines to give her a credit time, sir, and followed by 5 years of probation.

[00:15:32]Anything else from any other side before I impose sentence? No, your honor. No, judge. All right.

[00:15:37]All right, so the court having obviously reviewed the trial transcripts, the court file, all the evidence in this case, the pre-sentence investigation report, the argument of counsel, it's the judgment, sentence, and order of this court to adjudicate the defendant guilty, sentence her to 15 years in the Florida State Prison. You have 30 days to appeal the judgment and sentence. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to represent you.

[00:16:01]You all let me know when you're ready on the south, please.

[00:16:04]>> [clears throat] >> Okay, thank you.

[00:16:12]Yes.