Lil Tjay Turns Himself In On Previous Gun Charge From When Rapper Was Headed To Ice Spice’s Shoot

Lil Tjay, whose birth name is Tione Merritt, was arrested in Bergen County, New Jersey, on Friday for possessing a firearm without a permit. According to an arrest document obtained by XXL, the rapper has since been released.

This is the rapper’s third arrest for unlawful possession of a firearm. On Jan. 16, Lil Tjay was arrested in the Bronx in New York City as he was heading to an Ice Spice music video shoot. He and four others were pulled over before police found four firearms inside the vehicle. They were arrested and charged with unlawful weapon possession, according to XXL.

On Jan. 23, the rapper was arrested again for felony criminal possession of a firearm before being released. He appeared in the Bronx Criminal Court, where he was held on $30,000 cash bail and $90,000 bond, Complex reported.

“There was a gun that was allegedly found behind the driver’s seat in the back,” his lawyer, Dawn Florio, said at the time. She added that one of the guns was “found on the licensed security guard. And two guns in a lock box. They started searching the car, and they found the guns.”

Florio contacted the Instagram account @nydrillofficial to clear up rumors surrounding Lil Tjay’s most recent arrest.

“This arrest is not a new gun charge,” she wrote via direct message. “He had to turn himself in for the case where he was a victim where he was shot multiple times.”

In June 2021, the rapper had to be hospitalized after being shot multiple times during a robbery attempt in New Jersey. The suspect, Mohamed Konate, was charged with three counts of attempted murder and three counts of armed robbery, XXL reported.

Florio said Lil Tjay’s most recent arrest happened after he turned himself in for possession of firearms related to this incident. 

“The allegation is that there were guns in the car,” she said.