On what was a promising Sunday morning in Brooklyn, the life of Jamel Sinthoro Upper Davis, a 43-year-old man on the cusp of a long-awaited breakthrough in his music career, was tragically cut short. On April 12, 2026, inside his apartment in the Walt Whitman Houses near Fort Greene Park, a domestic dispute escalated into a fatal encounter. Davis, known in the rap community as Sinthoro Upper, was shot in the upper body. The incident occurred at approximately 10:50 a.m.
inside his residence on Cumberland Walk near Carlton Avenue.
The conflict reportedly began when Davis's longtime girlfriend, who was three months pregnant with his child, confronted her 16-year-old son about smoking in the apartment. Davis had expressed that he did not want his unborn child exposed to secondhand smoke. The teenager's disrespectful response to his mother allegedly prompted Davis to intervene. The argument between the rapper and his stepson quickly turned violent, culminating in the teenager allegedly shooting Davis. After the shooting, the suspect fled the scene. Medics arrived and transported Davis to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The New York Police Department identified the victim's 16-year-old stepson as a person of interest and began a search for him for questioning. At the time of the initial reports, no arrests had been made. The community was left in shock, mourning a man described as a beloved mentor to local teens whom he encouraged not only to rap but also to learn about music production.
The timing of his death was particularly devastating as Davis was finally achieving significant recognition in the music industry. His new song, "Slidin," was gaining viral momentum and had recently been featured on an Instagram reel by 50 Cent. Friends and supporters who had witnessed his years of dedication were heartbroken that his life was taken just as he was beginning to see his hard work pay off. They remembered him as a man with a good heart who was a positive influence on the community's youth.
