Rapper and porn star charged with robbing a gay man and killing another in Detroit
Prosecutors claim suspect deliberately targeted gay male victims using the online dating app Grindr.
A rapper and porn star from Indianapolis has been charged with robbing a gay man he met on Grindr and killing another gay man he allegedly lured through the dating app.
Diabolique Paris Johnson, 34, stands accused of committing an armed robbery that occurred on Sept. 1, 2020 at a hotel in Dearborn, Mich., and the killing of Joshua Smelser inside Smelser’s Detroit home on Sept. 5. He also faces weapons charges related to the alleged crimes.
Johnson, who goes by Chuck Da MF Buck in his rap career, and Chuck Da Dollasign on adult entertainment websites where he has performed in pornographic videos, appeared in court for a probable cause hearing earlier this month, where he entered a plea of not guilty, according to court records.
He is currently being held without bond, and is next scheduled to appear in Detroit’s 36th District Court on April 8 for a preliminary hearing on the felony murder and weapons charges.
Johnson was charged with the robbery last year, but wasn’t in custody at the time the charges were handed down. He was arrested in Indianapolis on Dec. 4, where he was held on the robbery charge before being extradited to Michigan earlier this month.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and the Fair Michigan Justice Project, which seeks justice for LGBTQ victims of crime, claim Johnson targeted gay men using the dating app. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who created a Hate Crimes Unit in her office to investigate bias-motivated crimes, is working closely with Worthy’s office to help prosecute the crime.
“It is troubling that the perpetrator of these vicious acts apparently used online dating apps to locate and target his victims,” Fair Michigan President Alanna Maguire said in a statement. “Michigan’s LGBTQ communities know that the Fair Michigan Justice Project, along with Michigan’s county prosecutors and law enforcement officials, stand ready to aggressively investigate and prosecute these brutal crimes.”
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