The 34-year-old son of Eugene “Big U” Henley, an accused Crips leader facing federal charges in a sprawling criminal case involving accusations of running a “Mafia-like” enterprise, died after being shot Friday night in South Los Angeles, officials said.
The Los Angeles County medical examiner identified the shooting victim as Jabari Henley.
The fatal shooting occurred just after 11 p.m. at Figueroa and 69th streets in the Vermont-Slauson neighborhood, said Norma Eisenman, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department.
The shooting occurred after the victim had appeared to walk up to a vehicle, Eisenman said. Suspects inside the vehicle shot him and then fled the scene. There is no description of the suspects, Eisenman said.
Firefighters pronounced the victim dead at the scene.
Jabari Henley’s father, Eugene “Big U” Henley, 58, is a well-known figure in hip-hop circles and helped launch the career of Nipsey Hussle, who died in 2019. Rapper Wiz Khalifa had called Eugene Henley the godfather of rap.
One of Jabari’s brothers is Daiyan Henley, a linebacker with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Daiyan Henley collected a sack in Sunday’s 27-20 victory over the Tennessee Titans, then dropped to his knees in prayer.
“I just wanted to talk to my brother one more time,” Daiyan Henley said on Sunday. “It was an emotional moment for me, just to be able to make a play on a day like this — just losing him so soon. It’s been a long year for me, so I just sent a prayer up and hopefully he heard it. I just went out there.”
Jabari Henley played football as a linebacker for Crenshaw High School, said Robert Garrett, who coached him.
“He was positive and fun,” Garrett said. “A hard worker [with] good attitude and pleasure to have.”
Garrett said hearing about Jabari’s death was “devastating.”
Jabari Henley’s parents, Eugene and Stacey Henley, met when they were teenagers at a Mid-City skating rink.
Eugene Henley was indicted this year on 43 counts of running a criminal enterprise that allegedly carried out a series of racketeering crimes, including extortion, human trafficking, fraud and the 2021 murder of an aspiring rapper.
The elder Henley has denied the accusations, saying on videos, “I ain’t did nothing” and “I ain’t been nothing but a help to our community,” before voluntarily turning himself in.
Henley is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Federal authorities have accused Eugene Henley of kidnapping and fatally shooting a young rapper in the face and leaving his body in the Las Vegas desert over perceived disrespect and directing the robbery of an unlicensed L.A. marijuana dispensary that had stopped making extortion payments.
Eugene Henley also is accused of defrauding companies, donors, athletes and celebrities — including NBA star Draymond Green and Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal — by persuading them to donate to his charities and later allegedly transferring the money to his personal bank accounts.
Eugene Henley previously served 13 years in prison after trying to rob an undercover sheriff’s deputy of 33 pounds of cocaine in 1991.
City News Service and Times staff writers Sam Farmer and Brittny Mejia contributed to this report.
