Man Arrested in Stabbing Murder of Rapper Hypo

Police in the UK have apprehended a man in connection to the stabbing death of rapper Hypo. Police on Saturday, June 4 arrested 32-year-old Laurie John-Philip with the murder of the rapper, whose real name was Lamar Jackson. John-Philip was charged with murder and possession of a bladed article and scheduled to appear at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court at a later time, Sky News and the BBC confirmed.

The arrest came just a day after Jackson was stabbed and killed during a Jubilee Bank Holiday party in Redbridge, London on Friday, June 3. According to the Met Police, officers were called to the scene just after midnight and found Jackson, 39, suffering from multiple stab injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Further details about the attack remain unclear, though one eyewitness told MyLondon revealed that some people “deliberately blocked” an ambulance from reaching the scene of the crime. That witness revealed, “there were people sitting in their cars and it looked like they were deliberately blocking this ambulance with its blue lights on from getting to the venue.” The woman, who lives near the party venue and did not want to be named, claimed one partygoer threatened her after the stabbing. A local business owner also thought the ambulance was blocked by cars purposefully parked in its way.

In a statement at the time, Detective Chief Inspector Laurence Smith said the attack “happened at a party and we know that a large number of people would have been in attendance. I would urge anyone who is yet to speak with us to come forward and let us know what you saw.” Smith also advised that it was possible events leading up to and possibly the death of Jackson were captured on peoples’ phones and urged attendees to “please take a look and call us. It is vital that we establish what happened.”

Jackson was a partner at the label Hard Copy, where he worked with the late Jamal Edwards. He gained fame as a member of the Mashtown group, performing with Asco and Margs. He had over 25,000 Instagram followers.

Amid news of his death, many fans took to social media to pay their respects. On Twitter, one fan wrote, “I remember my first introduction to UK rap was Mashtown & Giggs, RIP HYPO.” Another person tweeted, “RIP Big Hypes… Very sad news to wake up to. Always supported anything I done. We lost a real one.”