Fort Worth singer accused of fatally shooting man he thought was following him
A Fort Worth country singer is accused of fatally shooting a man while driving on East Berry Street on Monday, and he told police he thought the man was following him, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Christopher Jerome Blanton Jr., 29, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on Monday when the shooting victim was hospitalized, police said. Blanton faces a murder charge now that the man — 32-year-old Cody Davontae Scott — has died, police said on Tuesday.
Blanton, a local singer known by the stage name C’ing Jerome, told police that he was on the way to his music studio at the time of the shooting, according to the affidavit supporting his arrest. Blanton’s music is an “innovative blend of country, R&B, and hip-hop,” which he calls “hood country,” according to his website.
Police initially responded to the 4600 block of East Berry Street about 2:50 p.m. Monday to investigate reports of a single-vehicle crash that occurred after the driver was shot, according to a statement released Tuesday. Scott’s gray sedan hit a utility pole after he was shot, a 911 caller reported.
A friend of Blanton’s told detectives that he was riding in the front passenger seat of Blanton’s truck at the time of the shooting, according to the affidavit. Blanton told his friend to lean back, then pulled out a handgun and shot at Scott’s car at least one time, police said in the affidavit. Blanton had pulled up next to Scott’s car in traffic after both vehicles left a gas station in the area.
The friend told police he never saw Scott with a weapon and that he was unsure why Blanton shot at the car, according to the affidavit. The witness said he couldn’t see into the car because of window tinting.
Blanton told homicide detectives that he believed he had seen the victim’s car following him on another occasion and he felt threatened by the vehicle, police said in the affidavit. Blanton said he fired two shots into Scott’s car after seeing what he believed to be the end of a pistol, but denied that there had been any interaction between him and the victim, police said.
A passenger in Scott’s car told detectives that he never observed the victim with a gun at any point during the day of the shooting, according to the affidavit.
Scott died from a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office. He was pronounced dead Tuesday in the ICU at John Peter Smith Hospital.
A defense attorney for Blanton is not yet listed in court records. He was being held Tuesday in the Fort Worth police detention facility. He was transferred Wednesday to the Tarrant County Jail, with bond set at $30,000 on the count of aggravated assault and $150,000 on the count of murder. He was released on bond Thursday morning, according to court records.
This story was originally published August 19, 2025 at 8:23 PM.
