A rising DMV rapper known for turning his hard childhood into chart-climbing music is now facing the most serious legal trouble of his life. Jacquan Andrews, the 25-year-old performer known as Nino Paid, was arrested in the Detroit area in early September 2026 while on tour, over allegations that he was involved in an April 2026 shooting and armed robbery in Atlanta that left a man named Keion Borders dead.
According to Hypefresh, circulating reports indicate Andrews faces alleged charges including murder, armed robbery, and aggravated assault in connection with the killing, though neither Atlanta police nor Fulton County prosecutors have released an official statement on the allegations as of Monday. The outlet reports that Andrews is currently held over the alleged Atlanta shooting and armed robbery, and that, if the reports are confirmed, he would undergo extradition from Michigan to Georgia and make his first court appearance in Atlanta once that process is complete.
Rap news account RapHouseTV said Andrews was arrested in Detroit over the alleged Atlanta murder and armed robbery, and separately noted that police reportedly did not believe Nino Paid was the shooter but alleged he was involved. Per the same account cited by the report, investigators reportedly identified Andrews through Ring doorbell footage, and secondary reports have linked him to the killing of Borders. Detroit police likewise have not released an official statement on the allegations as of Monday.
Ring Footage and Phone Data at the Center of the Case
Details of exactly what the Ring footage shows, and the full contents of any related video, are not present in public records reviewed so far. What has surfaced, according to Indiatimes, is that authorities linked suspects to the scene after Borders' phone pinged alongside a suspect's phone. Borders' family told the outlet he was a fan of Nino Paid's music and alleged the attack stemmed from jealousy, though that motive has not been confirmed by any law enforcement agency.
Andrews is presumed innocent until proven guilty of the Atlanta allegations, and reports indicate he is the only person arrested so far in the matter. Charging papers, if and when they surface, would specify the nature of the charges and any bail issues, per the conditional reporting on the case.
From Foster Care and Juvenile Detention to XXL Freshman
Andrews hails from Landover, Maryland, and was born August 14, 2001. His path to hip-hop's spotlight ran through significant hardship: around age four, he and his three siblings were removed from their parents' custody by D.C. child services and placed into foster care, where he endured years of instability and abuse before being adopted alongside his younger sister, according to Siren. He has frequently woven those experiences into his music.
Before his rap career took off, Andrews served 18 months in a juvenile detention facility in Philadelphia on robbery and auto theft charges, during which he earned his GED before briefly enrolling at Prince George's Community College, per Complex. Andrews spoke candidly about how that stint transformed his perspective in a 2024 interview with DJ Smallz. His 2023 breakout single “Pain & Possibilities” led to a distribution deal with Signal Records, an imprint affiliated with Columbia Records and Sony Music, and helped land him on XXL Magazine's 2025 Freshman Class list as well as Complex's list of 25 Artists to Watch in 2025.
A Familiar Face for Federal Marshals
This is not Andrews' first brush with law enforcement making headlines. He was arrested in Prince George's County, Maryland, in July 2025 on vehicle-theft and theft charges involving property valued between $25,000 and $100,000. A viral photo from that arrest showed him shirtless in handcuffs surrounded by heavily armed federal U.S. Marshals, according to XXL Mag, prompting Andrews to tweet two days later that federal agents had confiscated his phones, passports, and identification while asserting his innocence. He was released on his own recognizance the day after that arrest. Reporting makes clear the 2025 Maryland case is unrelated to the current Atlanta allegations and does not constitute evidence of guilt in them.
Andrews' music sits within DMV crank, a regional hip-hop subgenre from Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County marked by aggressive, heavy percussion and fast rhythmic flows, as Indiatimes notes; his confessional, autobiographical style has helped push that sound further into the mainstream. He released the album Can't Go Bacc in 2024, followed by Love Me As I Am in 2025 and Somewhere Over the Rainbow in August 2026, the latter of which he was touring in support of when he was arrested. That tour has reportedly experienced disruptions, including concert cancellations, according to various accounts.
What Happens Next
If the reports are confirmed through formal charging documents, Andrews' path forward runs through Georgia's Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, which requires Georgia's governor to submit a written requisition backed by an indictment or magistrate affidavit before Michigan's governor can issue an executive warrant authorizing his transfer into custody. An arrest and subsequent charges do not imply a conviction, and Andrews remains presumed innocent of the Atlanta allegations at this stage.
The legal exposure, however, is severe. Under Georgia's murder statute, a conviction for either malice murder or felony murder carries mandatory penalties of life imprisonment without parole, life imprisonment with parole eligibility after at least 30 years, or the death penalty. Notably, Georgia's felony murder law allows a participant in an underlying felony, such as armed robbery, to be charged with murder even if they were not the triggerman, which matters given that police reportedly do not believe Andrews was the shooter. Armed robbery under Georgia law carries a potential life sentence or a mandatory minimum of 10 to 20 years, while aggravated assault carries up to 20 years, according to legal summaries of the state's statutes.
