An aspiring rapper who just had a song start to take off after years of husting was shot to death by his 16-year-old stepson during an argument over smoking inside their Brooklyn NYCHA apartment, the Daily News has learned.
Jamel Davis was shot in the upper body inside his home in NYCHA’s Walt Whitman Houses on Cumberland Walk near Carlton Ave. in Fort Greene about 10:50 a.m. Sunday, police said. His stepson is being sought by cops for questioning.
Davis, 43, performed under the name Sinthoro Upper and in recent weeks his new song “Slidin” was starting to go viral. The song has been gaining airplay on local hip hop stations and even soundtracked a recent Instagram reel from 50 Cent, heartbroken friends said.
“He was doing the music so long and they just put his music on the radio,” said friend Anthony Mabry. “He was grinding all of his life … God finally gave him his blessing within the month of this happening.”
50 Cent even soundtracked a March 16 Instagram reel with “Slidin.” In a podcast interview posted just three weeks ago, Davis was thrilled by his newfound success. “I look on the phone and say, ‘What, 50?’” he told the hosts of “Talk Ya Talk.” “I said, ‘What?!?’”
Jamel Davis (pictured) was shot in the upper body inside his home in NYCHA’s Walt Whitman Houses on Cumberland Walk near Carlton Ave. in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, on Sunday. (Instagram)
Now Davis won’t get to see how far his song might go.
“It’s devastating for the community because we were all rooting for him and he finally got his shot and now he was taken away,” Mabry said. “He is 43 and people were doubting him, people saying, ‘Pass the mic.’ But he stayed with it. And he was finally getting that taste — and it’s like, you took it from him.”
Medics rushed Davis to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he died.
“That’s like a brother to me, my best friend,” Mabry said. “I’m just so hurt, man. Whenever you saw him, you saw me.”
Police at the scene where authorities said a 43-year-old man was shot and killed by his 16-year-old stepson in an apartment building in Brooklyn. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
No arrests have been made as cops try to find the victim’s stepson, who is wanted for questioning.
Davis was shot during an argument with the stepson over smoking inside the apartment, a police source told ABC 7 New York.
“It’s just crazy that someone you helped raise takes you out,” said a friend who declined to give his name. “We are all just devastated.”
A memorial for Jamel Davis is pictured outside his home on Monday, April 13, 2026. (Nicholas Williams / New York Daily News)
The victim helped organize basketball tournaments for kids in the neighborhood. On Monday, people gathered at a large memorial with dozens of candles just outside Fort Greene Park.
“Kids came by his memorial and literally broke down and cried. The kids loved him. He just had a good connection with them,” Mabry said. “He was a people person. Kids loved him, mothers loved him, grandmothers loved him. He just had a good heart.”
Police at the scene where authorities said a 43-year-old man was shot and killed by his 16-year-old stepson in an apartment building in Brooklyn. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News) Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
The victim helped his brother create a clothing line called “Poverty,” named to acknowledge obstacles they overcame, friends said. Davis had two kids of his own.
“He was trying to be successful for his family,” said Johnson. “He was a good dude, great dude.”