SANTA MONICA, CA. (THECOUNT) — Globally acclaimed singer Jubilant Sykes was identified by a neighbor on Tuesday as the victim in an active homicide investigation in Santa Monica. Although authorities have not officially released the victim’s name, neighbor Sammy Murphy told local media that the man found dead inside a Delaware Avenue home was Sykes.
According to the Santa Monica Police Department, officers were dispatched to the 1700 block of Delaware Avenue around 9:30 p.m. Monday after someone inside the residence called 911 requesting assistance. A police spokesperson confirmed that first responders entered the home after speaking with the reporting party.
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“Officers arrived and contacted the reporting party, who directed them into the home where they located an adult male with significant injuries,” Lt. Gilmour said. Fire personnel also responded and pronounced the victim dead at the scene.
Authorities continued to withhold the victim’s identity as of Tuesday, but Murphy, a neighbor, said Sykes was the man found inside the home. He described Sykes as a respected figure who was well-known both locally and worldwide for his musical accomplishments.
“I was born and raised in Santa Monica, so we were really pretty close out here,” Murphy said. “What a singer … good spirit, good-hearted person, beautiful family.”
The circumstances surrounding the death remain unclear. Police stated that another man who was in the home at the time was taken into custody in connection with the case. Investigators have not released details regarding the relationship between the suspect and the victim, nor have they confirmed the cause of death.
Murphy, however, told reporters that he believed the suspect was Sykes’ son. “From what I heard, he just got shot. His son shot him,” Murphy said. “For whatever reason, I don’t know if they had some type of altercation going on or whatever, but that’s the word that I received this morning.”
The neighbor also stated that Sykes was the father of three sons, describing one of them as a “bad man.” Murphy did not elaborate further, and police have not confirmed any of the details provided by the neighbor.
By Tuesday morning, homicide investigators remained at the Delaware Avenue residence, processing the scene and gathering evidence. The home is located in a residential area of Santa Monica, roughly a mile from Santa Monica College and several blocks from the city’s major east-west thoroughfares. Investigators spent hours at the location, and police vehicles were stationed along the street as forensic teams worked inside.
Santa Monica Police emphasized that the case appears to be confined to the household involved. “Based on the preliminary investigation, detectives believe this was an isolated incident contained within the household. There is no ongoing threat to the community,” Lt. Gilmour said.
Authorities have not provided information regarding potential charges, the suspect’s identity, or whether a firearm was recovered at the scene. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office is expected to conduct an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.
Sykes, known internationally for his work as a vocalist across classical, jazz and gospel genres, had been widely praised for his talent and artistic range. His professional achievements were not addressed by investigators, as the focus remained on the unfolding criminal investigation.
As of Tuesday evening, police had not released additional updates, and officials indicated that the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information related to the case is expected to be encouraged to contact Santa Monica Police, though no formal request for public assistance had yet been publicly issued based on available information.
Via Sykes website:
Perhaps no vocalist of our time possesses a more exquisitely versatile instrument than the American baritone Jubilant Sykes. Known for bringing a unique dimension to the traditional career of the classically trained vocalist by drawing on gospel, jazz and folk influences to deliver performances in differing musical genre.
His unique gifts, have taken him from such diverse stages as the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Arena di Verona in Italy, London’s Barbican Center to the New Orleans Jazz Festival, the Apollo Theater and Hollywood Bowl, among hundreds of other venues around the world.
Mr. Sykes has performed with a number of the world’s finest orchestras and conductors, including the Atlanta Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Boston Symphony and Boston Pops, Baltimore Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Dallas and Houston Symphonies, London Symphony, Louisville Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco and Pittsburgh Symphonies, St. Louis, Seattle, and Vancouver Symphonies. He has worked with such conductors as Teddy Abrams, Marin Alsop, John Axelrod, Christoph Eschenbach, Marvin Hamlisch, Krisjan Jarvi, Andrew Litton, Keith Lockhart, Lorin Maazel, Wayne Marshall, Kurt Masur, John Nelson, David Robertson, Leonard Slatkin and John Williams.
Jubilant has collaborated with such artists as Julie Andrews, Terence Blanchard, John Beasley, Renée Fleming, Josh Groban, Christopher Parkening, Patrice Rushen, Carlos Santana, Jennifer Warren, and Brian Wilson.
The Grammy nominated baritone was named “Editor’s Choice” by Gramophone Magazine for his recording of Leonard Bernstein‘s “Mass.”
He made his film debut in the movie Freedom playing the African slave Ozias. He later played the lead in the play Breath and Imagination by Daniel Beaty on the life of Roland Hayes at the Hartford Stage. In New York at the New York City Center, he portrayed Pompey in the musical Bloomer Girl and Henry Richard Lee in the musical 1776. In late 2023, he will appear in the suspense/thriller Fin.
Jubilant resides in Southern California with his wife, Cecelia they have three sons.
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