Mello Buckzz’s father has been indicted on federal gun charges.
According to CWBChicago, 45-year-old Melvin Doyle was arraigned Tuesday, July 8, less than a week after a deadly mass shooting outside Mello Buckzz’s album release party. Authorities said Doyle had illegally sold 13 firearms to undercover informants working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
The first transaction took place on May 20, when Doyle allegedly sold a purple .40-caliber Glock pistol at his home for $800. Investigators said Doyle had sold a dozen more guns to the informants over the following two months, with the last transaction taking place on July 7, just five days after the aforementioned shooting left multiple people dead.
One of the informants alleged Doyle had illegally sold them a gun in 2022. A law enforcement source said there’s no evidence that any of those weapons sales were connected to the July 2 shooting.
According to court documents, Doyle was convicted of attempted murder in 1998, the manufacturing and delivery of controlled substances in 2003, and the manufacturing and delivery of heroin in 2006. The convictions prohibit him from owning or selling firearms.
Chicago authorities are still searching for the gunman behind the July 2 drive-by shooting that left four people dead and 14 others injured. The incident went down outside the Artis Restaurant and Lounge in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, where Mello Buckzz was hosting a party for her new project, HollyHOOD The Mixtape.
Mello Buckzz confirmed that her boyfriend and best friend were among those who were killed. She addressed the tragedy in a series of Instagram Stories that included photos of her late loved ones.
“We was having so much fun in our private little life, couldn’t leave each other alone glued to my hip everyday,” Mello Buckzz wrote. “It’s not a night we ain’t spend together. I’m so fucking angry. U was woke I held yo hand until I couldn’t. U talked to me. Clearly ion get it boo, I’m fucked up.”
“My heart broke into so many pieces rn it’s unbelievable,” she wrote in a subsequent post. “Why is this happening to me?”
Police said a dark-colored vehicle drove past the venue shortly after 11 p.m. local time, when someone within the car opened fire on the crowd. No suspects have been arrested in connection with the shooting.
Cook County Crime Stoppers is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the indictment or arrest of the individual[s] behind the attack.
