Takeoff: Woman Who Was Shot During Rapper’s Murder Speaks Out

The second victim of the night Takeoff was shot and killed has spoken out for the first time. On Wednesday (January 18), Sydney Leday, sat down with local news outlet KHOU 11 and recalled the moment that led to her getting shot in the head after in front of a Houston bowling alley on November 1, 2022.

Leday recalled hearing shots fired and attempting to run away. She felt a stinging sensation in the back of her head and fell to the ground.

"I told her [Leday's mother] to come to the hospital, but I ended up having a seizure, so I was on the phone with her the whole time," Leday said. "I remember the whole thing. I felt the sting in the back of my head. I felt myself falling and the person I was with picked me up and got in the car but it was just it was like a scary movie."

She continued: "Ironically, it was Halloween night. I had on a nun outfit I had blood all over me and it was still my birthday weekend. So I mean like any other 24-year-old, I was just out partying and celebrating 'cause I really never dressed up for Halloween and that was something I was excited about."

Before the shots were fired Leday did not feel any kind of danger. She and her friends arrived at the bowling alley around midnight and were having a good tome prior to the gunfire.

"It was pretty normal in my opinion. I didn’t get scared it wasn’t any arguments or anything until the event was actually over," she said holding back tears. "That’s when I knew something was wrong after the fact ’cause I thought these people that were arguing was just playing from, like I said, the energy that was in the room before everybody was around the table playing a game of dice. So I thought it was just like, you know, some like friendly banter."

Leday said she saw an argument with Migos rapper Quavo, who was also there that night. She got the feeling that something was not right.

"Quavo, he was upset so I noticed that something was wrong. Whenever I noticed that, he was really upset and he was finna leave. So the party wasn’t gonna keep going on, and I saw whenever everything broke out, and I tried to run, but I didn’t go that far so. Yeah, it was like, it was really like a movie."

Leday and Takeoff weren't the only victims that night in the Houston bowling alley. A third person, a 23-year-old male, was later identified as Quavo's assistant, Joshua 'Wash' Washington, per TMZ. Washington reportedly suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Earlier this morning, we reported on the tragic and senseless death of rapper Takeoff from Migos. Takeoff, whose real name was Kirshnik Khari Ball, was killed in an early morning shooting in Houston.

Gossip site TMZ reported on the story. They noted that law enforcement sources, and multiple witnesses, said that the fatal incident occurred shortly after 2:30 AM when police got the call for a man shot at a bowling alley called 810 Billiards & Bowling Houston. According to their reports, Takeoff and Migos' Quavo were there playing dice when an altercation broke out and that's when someone opened fire, shooting Takeoff. They reported that he was shot "either in the head or near to his head." They said that he was pronounced dead on the scene. Takeoff was 28 years old.

TMZ also posted photos that were slightly blurred but which showed Takeoff lying on the ground.  Many were upset that TMZ and others shared horrifying footage. The writer Kimberly St. Julian-Vernon tweeted, "I think it’s disgusting that TMZ monetizes the deaths of Black men: Kobe’s accident, now Takeoff’s murder." Civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill said, "No human being or their family deserves to have published the kind of crime scene photos I glimpsed. A disgrace TMZ." Writer Rotimi Adeoye expressed, "I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. TMZ is disgusting. Posting death photos is beyond cruel. They did the same exact thing when Kobe died."

Rapper Cadence Weapon tweeted, "TMZ posted Takeoff’s dead body when reporting his murder. Would they do the same for a white country artist? Or would they be more respectful? Where does the impulse to film and post a lifeless dead Black body come from? Maybe this is why Black death has become so normalized." A twitter account called NBA Slime said, "TMZ y’all gotta stop showing “EXCLUSIVE” footage of people’s last moments Please man! Getting the scoop is enough, you guys don’t need to show that stuff anymore! It’s getting sick! You know what you’re doing and you know it’s wrong! Stop doing it!!!" See more reactions below.