New Orleans-based rapper Mad Muszik Cali, real name Justin Rene Lewis, has been arrested and charged in connection to the murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Raesha Heard. The DeKalb County Police Department and local media confirmed that the musician was booked into the DeKalb County jail on Wednesday, Oct. 18 on a charge of malice murder after his ex-girlfriend, who was two months pregnant, was fatally shot in front of her 9-year-old son.
Lewis’ arrest came 10 days after the fatal Oct. 11 shooting. Heard carrying in groceries from the trunk of her car in her parents’ driveway on Kelley Chapel Road in Decatur, Georgia when she was shot seven times. Her young son witnessed the shooting, per Fox 5. According to police, per HotNewHipHop, Heard was hit “twice in the back, once in the chest, leg and head” and succumbed to her injuries.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Heard’s family told Atlanta’s WSB-TV that Heard had broken up with Lewis because he was abusive. Her sister, Rhonda Heard Dickens, told the outlet, “This is a person who has mistreated her for years.” The Shade Room reports that a police report claimed that Heard’s mother informed authorities that her daughter was pregnant and the “child’s father,” whose name has been redacted from the report, allegedly asked her to terminate the pregnancy. Lewis reportedly claimed there was only a “possibility” that he could be the father of Heard’s unborn child. The report also said the “child’s father” allegedly opened fire on Heard’s car “a few months earlier,” though Heard was not injured in the shooting because “the clip fell out the weapon.” The incident was not reported to authorities at the time.
Following Heard’s passing, Lewis was reportedly active on social media, with The Shade Room reporting that the musician accused Heard’s family of “spreading rumors” about him being the person responsible for the shooting. Heard’s niece Rastarja Heard said that when she posted “that he was wanted and we were going to find him,” Lewis “liked” the post.
More than a week after the shooting, DeKalb police located Lewis in Forest Park and arrested him. He was booked into the DeKalb County jail on a charge of malice murder. Heard’s sister said of the arrest, “I’m just happy that Justin is captured. Because we don’t want anybody else to experience this. No other family.”
Lewis’ arrest comes six years after he was a suspect in the murder of his ex-wife Sidni Dalcour in 2017. Dalcour was found shot to death in her car in New Orleans, with her family telling The Shade Room that they “instantly knew he [Lewis] had something to do with it.” The rapper, however, was never charged.
