R. Kelly YouTube Fanatic Accused of Making Violent Threats Before Singer’s Sentencing

Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

An R. Kelly super fan is facing federal charges for allegedly threatening victims involved in the disgraced R&B singer’s New York sex-crimes trial and even promising to “storm” the office of the Brooklyn prosecutors who convicted him.

He also allegedly took part in the sale of firearm ammo on CashApp.

Christopher “​​DeBoSki” Gunn, a resident of Bolingbrook, Illinois, was arrested on Saturday and charged with making threats involving serious bodily injury or death. The arrest came just days before Kelly, 55, was set to face sentencing after being found guilty last September of leading a criminal enterprise geared to help him prey on women and girls for his own sexual gratification.

According to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday in Brooklyn federal court, Gunn was enraged about the outcome of Kelly’s trial, which he attended for at least one day last September. Gunn also previously made local headlines in 2019 after accompanying a fellow R. Kelly fan to file a lawsuit against one of the singer’s alleged victims and Lifetime. The network had aired a docu-series detailing harrowing sexual abuse claims against the “I Believe I Can Fly” star.

It is not immediately clear if Gunn retained an attorney, and there was no indication offered by prosecutors that Kelly was party to his alleged crimes.

About a week after the trial wrapped in September, prosecutors say, Gunn posted a video on YouTube where he discussed the case. In the video, he allegedly showed a photograph of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and noted that it was right outside the courthouse where Kelly had been convicted.

“I want y’all to get real familiar with this building I’m about to pull up and show t​​o you,” Gunn said in the Oct. 4 video titled “Get Real Familiar,” according to the complaint. “Imma shows you exactly where we’re gonna be going. And we’re gonna get real familiar with this building, and this building is gonna get real familiar with the enterprise, also known as Kellz Steppers.... We know who is going to stick to everything that I told you, which is that if Kellz goes down, everybody’s going down.”

At another point in the video, Gunn allegedly shared a scene from the 1991 film Boyz N The Hood where a character is about to be shot to death. The complaint states that Gunn also threatened “to storm” at least three women—identified in the complaint as Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2, and Jane Doe—who testified in Kelly’s trial.

Throughout the six-week trial, prosecutors alleged that for decades, Kelly used bodyguards, drivers, and other employees to prey on women, girls, and boys. To prove the case, nine women and two men took to the stand to discuss the abuse they endured at the hands of the singer. Almost all of the individuals who testified were under the age of 18 when they first had sexual contact with Kelly.

“That’s where they at. That’s where they work at...We’re going to storm they office,” he said about the federal poseuctors. “[I]f you ain’t got the stomach for the shit we bout to do, I’m asking that you just bail out.”

Prosecutors say that Gunn made several other videos about his “affiliation with the Kelly case,” including an April 15, 2020, video titled “R Kelly Propaganda PT46 (Who is Ann Donnelly & Whats Up with Nature Boy,Cash Out).” The video, the complaint notes, included the hashtags “#FreeRKelly,” “#KellzSteppas,” and “#AnnDonelly.” The latter is allegedly in reference to United States District Judge Ann M. Donnelly, who presided over Kelly’s trial.

Last week, Gunn allegedly posted a message on his “DeBoSki Gunn” YouTube account, stating that “#TheEnterprise I have a spot for us allllll (sic) to link during the trial see you there.” Prosecutors noted that they believed Kelly supporters were going to gather at the singer’s Wednesday sentencing—just as hordes of fans waited outside for hours for a chance to get a seat inside the courthouse before his conviction.

As of Monday afternoon, Gunn’s YouTube channel appeared to be active and showcased several videos about Kelly’s case. His last video, titled “Yolo,” was posted on Saturday.

Prosecutors also said that Gunn “engaged in the sale of firearm ammunition in relation to the Kelly matter,” describing approximately eight transactions between February 2021 and June 2022 on CashApp. On Feb. 26, 2021, one user paid Gunn $20 for “30 rounds on the haters,” the feds said, adding that six months later, another user paid Gunn $20 for “30 rounds.. free R kelly.”

The complaint says Gunn also received another June payment of $15 from another user for “30 rounds.”

Ahead of Kelly’s sentencing, prosecutors have asked for the singer to be sentenced to at least 25 years behind bars because he “continued his crimes and avoided punishment for them for almost 30 years and must now be held to account.”

Kelly’s lawyers have argued that the singer should only receive 17 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.

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