Accusing the plaintiff of destroying highly relevant evidence, the mother and the estate of the late rapper Takeoff are asking a judge to impose a severe penalty on a woman who alleges the singer raped her in 2020, two years before his death.
The plaintiff is identified only as Jane Doe in the Van Nuys Superior Court complaint alleging Takeoff, whose real name was Kirshnik Khari Ball, sexually assaulted her during a party in an Encino home on June 23, 2020. The 28-year-old Takeoff, part of the Atlanta song trio Migos, was shot to death Nov. 1, 2022, at a Houston bowling alley.
On Tuesday, attorneys for Takeoff’s mother, Titiana Patrice Davenport, and the singer’s estate filed court papers with Judge Huey P. Cotton asking that he impose “terminating sanctions” on the plaintiff for allegedly deleting text messages highly relevant to the defense. The terminating sanctions sought by the defense, if granted, could result in a possible default judgment against Doe.
During her Oct. 14 deposition, Doe testified that she deleted everything in her phone after she sued, the estate attorneys contend in their court papers.
“Plaintiff Jane Doe has admitted under oath that she systematically double-deleted her text messages relevant to this lawsuit after she had already filed her complaint,” the estate attorneys write in their court papers. “Such spoliation is set against the backdrop of her own friend testifying that plaintiff’s claims in this lawsuit are fabricated with the help of her other friends with whom she broadly engaged in text communications.”
In allegedly doing so, Doe has ensured that the estate is deprived of key evidence that likely would have supported its defense of Doe’s case, according to the estate lawyers’ pleadings.
“The court should not tolerate such conduct and should impose terminating sanctions in the form of dismissing plaintiff’s case,” the estate attorneys argue in their court papers.
The text messages were highly relevant in multiple ways, including that Doe has indicated that she will use selected portions of text messages between her and third parties in an attempt to substantiate her claims, according to the estate’s attorneys’ court papers.
“In sum, plaintiff herself recognizes the relevance of text messages because she intends to rely on cherry-picked snippets, the same token, self-selected snippets she shared with the police, notwithstanding that she systematically deleted entire text threads with the same third parties and other witnesses,” the estate attorneys state in their court papers.
In a previous legal action, a Georgia probate judge designated the singer’s mother as the administrator of her son’s estate. Doe also has filed a $6 million creditor’s claim against Takeoff’s estate.
According to Doe’s lawsuit, Takeoff made several advances the night of the alleged sexual assault that Doe rejected. She later went to a bedroom to lie down, but despite her making it clear to the performer that she was not interested, he followed her into the bedroom and “forced himself on her and engaged in sexual intercourse,” the suit alleges.
A hearing on the estate’s motion is scheduled Jan. 21, 2027.