Two men who were with rapper Juice WRLD when he suffered a medical emergency at Midway Airport have been charged with weapons violations unrelated to his death, according to police.
Juice WRLD, whose real name was Jarad Anthony Higgins, suffered a medical emergency at around 2 a.m. Sunday after arriving at Midway on a private plane, landing at a small hangar for private jets, separate from the main terminal, Chicago police and fire officials said.
The 21-year-old was taken from Midway to Advocate Christ Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 3:14 a.m., the Cook County medical examiner's office said in a statement. An autopsy was scheduled to be completed Monday.
There were "no obvious signs of foul play" in the incident, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted, adding that the people on the plane were cooperating with law enforcement.
During the investigation at Midway, police said officers discovered two men in Higgins' group had weapons on them, taking both into custody.
Christopher Long, 36, of Bueno Park, California, was charged with one misdemeanor count of unlawful use of a weapon, Chicago police said. Henry Dean, 27, of Chicago, was charged with two concealed-carry firearms violations and with having a high-capacity magazine, all misdemeanors, according to police.
The two men were next scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 30.
Local
A 2017 graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School, Higgins was named top new artist at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards in May.
Higgins' former school district said he was remembered as "a brilliant and creative student" who was "extraordinarily talented in music."
"He was a caring and outgoing person who always tried to reach out to others while at the same time he was introspective and had a great sense of humor," a spokeswoman for the school said in a statement, adding that he "connected with many staff and students while he was a H-F Viking and he will be truly missed."
