Immigrant DJ shot to death in dispute with rival Brooklyn dollar van driver mourned

An up-and-coming immigrant DJ paid for an argument with a rival Brooklyn dollar van driver with his life, leaving his loved ones shattered.

Johanci Chapman, 25, was shot as he quarreled with his killer about 12:55 p.m. Jan. 12 while driving his van on Utica Ave. near Linden Blvd. in East Flatbush, cops said.

About 200 mourners packed into Caribe Funeral Home in Flatlands for Chapman’s Jan. 26 funeral, while one family member sending a pre-recorded video sent from the victim’s native Trinidad and Tobago.

“I’m angry I can’t be there. You were the best brother,” Chapman’s elementary school-aged brother said in the heartbreaking video message. “I love you and I will always love you.”

The victim, known to friends and relatives as JoJo, played music under the name DJ Checkpoint. He immigrated to the United States in 2022 after serving in Trinidad and Tobago’s Coast Guard, his family said.

“JoJo had an infectious smile that would light up your heart. He had a laugh that would live in your head rent free,” said Chapman’s other brother, Imari Cotton. “I want everyone to keep that memory of his smile. His smile, his laugh, that is my memory of him.”

After being shot, Chapman kept driving down Utica Ave., crashing into a Kia sedan. Medics took him to Kings County Hospital but he couldn’t be saved, police said.

A white dollar van was seen driving off after the shooting and investigators believe Chapman quarreled with that driver before being shot, police sources said. The killer has not been caught.

Davyone Jordan, Chapman’s cousin and best friend, said the victim’s life was “short but full,” recalling the construction and restaurant jobs Chapman held in addition to DJing and driving since he’d arrived in New York.

“This is the immigrant’s experience. When you come to America you do whatever you have to do to survive and you pray you don’t lose yourself,” said Jordan. “America isn’t an easy place. It can gobble you up and spit you out. But at the very same time it’s a place where dreams can come true. Where you’re allowed to be yourself. And Johanci was always himself.”

“When we find ourselves in places and spaces we probably shouldn’t be in most of us are gifted a second chance,” Jordan added. “Johanci was robbed of that.”

Candice Charles, the victim’s mother, spoke of her son as hardworking but willing to help those in need.

“He would work like nobody’s business,” said Charles. “But at the same time, if he was driving his van and someone told him they didn’t have money for the fare, he would say ‘Nothing wrong with that. I’m taking whatever. Hop in’.”

“My Jo was a loving person and a charmer,” she added. “He didn’t care about the consequences because he was a young man. He always stood up for what’s right and hoped others would do the same.”

She praised her son’s ambition.

“He believed his destiny was to be a world-renowned DJ and was determined to make his way in New York City. My sweet boy, our angel, our son, the deepest love of my life. Play your music and have them dancing in heaven.”

Chapman’s father, Keston Cotton, said his son was prone to arguing but was respectful. Cotton thought back on the long involved conversations the two sometimes had.

“He always found a way to lighten it with laughter,” said the father. “Most of our conversations ended in laughter.”

Before driving the dollar van, Chapman worked as a prep cook for two years at Charm Bar & Restaurant, a Caribbean eatery in Park Slope where he was fondly remembered.

“He was a standup individual, he was very proud of where he came from, proud of Trinidad,” McKinley Lamarre, the owner of the restaurant, told the Daily News after Chapman’s slaying.

In addition to his kitchen skills, Chapman was able to show off his talents as a DJ at Charm, playing music for Soca Tuesdays.

“He was always looking for ways to help,” said Lamarre. “He always came in with a smile on his face.  He was dedicated. He was like family,”

Stephen Henry, who works as a chef at Charm Bar & Restaurant, choked back tears as he remembered Chapman’s generosity.

“He showed me how to do everything — and I mean everything — so I could be on point,” said Henry, 27. “We were very close. We took the same train at night. He was a dear friend.”

Henry remembered Chapman saying he was driving the van to raise money to buy it and that he would proudly own the van by March.

Members of the 67^th Precinct’s clergy council,  known as “The GodSquad,” also spoke at the funeral service, urging dollar van drivers to come together for a meeting to discuss how to quash deadly beefs.

In his closing sermon, Apostle Vernel Samuel referenced the disagreement, asking where it would end.

“If everybody should go and render an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, then nobody would have no eyes to see,” he said. “You end up with two blind men. And two blind men can’t drive dollar vans.”

“We must learn how to forgive,” he added. “We have to learn also, at times, not to sprinkle gasoline on the fire.”

With Rocco Parascandola