Bernadette Walker, the mother of hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd, recently opened up about the death of her ex-husband Floyd Sullivan, who was allegedly killed by their 19-year-old son Jamil Ali Sullivan, also known as Michael.
In an interview with People, Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi's mother spoke candidly about her son, who she said suffers from schizoaffective disorder, admitting that she believes she couldâve been his victim. âIâm not going to say that, âSomething like this was unexpected,'â Bernadette claimed. âOf course even though it wasnât unexpected, you still donât expect it. He has threatened me multiple times. This very well couldâve been me. He has shot guns more than once.â
She also told the magazine that Michael and his father had a complex relationship. âIt was very complicated â they had a very complicated relationship,â she said. âIt was sort of heartbreaking, but I felt like the only hope I had was that Floyd would somehow get through to him. But I think Floyd carried on with his own life and Michael just didnât understand. Itâs very complicated.â
On January 6, police were called to a home in Tupelo where officers found Floyd's body, which had multiple gunshot wounds, TMZ reported at the time. Law enforcement officers told the outlet that Swae and Slim's younger half-brother was a person of interest in the shooting and was being held for psychiatric evaluation. He was later âreleased from a local psychological care facility and immediately arrested for murder.â
Floyd, who was 62-years-old, helped raise both Swae and Slim since they were in middle school when they moved to Mississippi to live with their mother. Bernadette told People she's not sure what exactly led to her ex-husband's alleged murder, but said her son was easily agitated.
âI donât want to speculate â it couldâve happened to anybody because Michael really didnât need a rhyme or reason to do anything,â she explained. âHe was aggressive when he was off his meds, so it couldâve been as simple as asking him to do something that couldâve set him off.â
As for how Swae and Slim are coping with the loss of their stepfather, Bernadette said, "everybodyâs trying to give them space and let them process what happened." She added, "Itâs still unbelievable. Theyâre making funeral arrangements and everything. Theyâre broken but they have to keep on because obviously they still have obligations. Theyâre just dealing with it as best they can.â
Bernadette hopes their unfortunate loss will help others take mental conditions more seriously. âI just want people to understand, especially in the black community, we donât take it seriously and we donât give it any weight,â she said. âWe just kind of accept that a person acts how they act or âHey, this person is a little weird.â But no, it needs to be something thatâs taken seriously. Michael was one of those people that had he done that, he probably wouldâve had a great career. But instead, this is what happened.â
She additionally noted that there need to be better laws put in place to help those with mental health issues as she explained that Michael had been both previously hospitalized and put in jail for his psych problems. âThe mental health system is trash,â Bernadette explained. âThere were so many red flags. Even before I sent him back to Tupelo, Michael had been hospitalized more than once this year and each time they put him in a facility, they kept him for about two weeks. They didnât really do anything for him, they just kept him, like babysitting.â
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