A message to the Hip-Hop community: Let’s chill on DJ Quik addressing his son’s murder conviction. Speaking in a session with The Shade Room Live, Quick revealed he has no desire to talk about it with anyone.
DJ Quik opened by saying his son “is hanging in there” and was “scapegoated” during the trial.
“I’m a little bit too emotional to be in public because when people ask me about it in public, I don’t respond with kind[ness]. And I’m not going to apologize for that. Stop asking me about my son in public,” Quick said.
“He accepted his role in it, and he’s like, ‘Whatever it’s gonna be is gonna be.’ If they gave him 25 years, he’s gonna do it. That’s the kinda person he is. That’s the kinda person he’s built to be. Like everybody else, he made a mistake. Just like the judge said, she said, ‘I commend you for going 27 years without having no police interaction, period.’ He was raised right. He just made a mistake.”
In March, David Blake Jr., the son of Compton hip hop artist DJ Quik, was sentenced to 15 years to life in California state prison for his role in a deadly shooting that took place in Downey in 2022.
Authorities say the incident occurred in May of that year when 31-year-old Julio Moises Cardoza Jr. was shot after an altercation broke out between Cardoza and another man. Blake Jr., who was nearby, allegedly fired multiple shots from inside a vehicle before leaving the area. Cardoza was transported to a hospital but later died from his injuries. Blake Jr. was taken into custody the following day.
On Feb. 27, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Laura Walton issued the sentence. Gun-related allegations that could have added an additional 25 years to the punishment were dismissed.
Judge Walton described the case as “an absolute tragedy.” She also noted that Blake Jr. was 27 years old at the time of the shooting and had “no prior record.” Addressing him directly, she said a “split- second decision that you made does not define your character or who you are.” She added that “at some point you will be paroled.”
During the hearing, Blake Jr. expressed remorse for the killing. He stated that he was “sorry for the role” he had in the death of Cardoza and said, “My heart aches for the Cardozas.” Blake Jr. also told the court, “I was truly in fear for my life and believed I was going to die.”
Cardoza’s mother, Elida Cardoza, spoke through a Spanish interpreter, saying her son “lost his life because of the actions of a man that didn’t care that I was beside my son and grandson.”
“There is no greater pain than having your son die in your arms,” she said. “I yelled at him not to leave me … I realized that his soul was leaving his body, that I was losing him forever.”
In a written statement, the victim’s father said the loss has left the family shattered and that “our life has been a living hell.”
