20-year-old gangsta rapper w/ criminal record admitted to Wake Co. high school?
Adrian Rasheem Cofield Jr. has been arrested at least 12 times in Wake County since 2023
A 20-year-old man with a criminal record and numerous arrests is back in jail on charges including breaking or entering after apparently being enrolled at a Wake County high school, according to concerned parents and publicly available information.
According to records from the Wake County Bureau of Forensic Services, Adrian Rasheem Cofield Jr. has been arrested at least 12 times in Holly Springs, Raleigh, and Wake Forest since 2023. These arrests resulted in at least two convictions so far, including an arrest for assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury over a December 2023 knife attack, for which Cofield was sentenced of 60 days of time already served in confinement after being allowed to plead down to misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon.
Despite his age and and criminal history, Cofield appears to have been admitted as a student at Heritage High School in Wake Forest earlier this year, as evidenced by anonymous parental complaints as well as images posted to Cofield's Instagram account, which are tagged at Heritage High School and appear to show Cofield throwing up gang signs alongside other students at the school:
Cofield is also an aspiring rapper with a Youtube account featuring his "gangsta rap," which is replete with references to gangs, guns, and violence: including titles such as "Cracking Opps" (slang for enemies), "Smoking Onna Opps," "Got My Blick" (slang for handgun), "Extensions On Them Mags," or "Cant Change Onna Gng" and lyrics like "gang gang gang," "ride around with a big blicky just in case s--- gets sticky," or "smoke a n---- dead then leave him like a drop off."
These themes are also reflected in Cofield's associated Instagram account, to which he has uploaded nearly 30 images in just the past two months making what appear to be gang signs with his hands:
The captions on Cofield's Instagram posts also include references to violence, such as "Posted Inna Hood 🩸 I Catch A Opp 🐭 I Smokem 🔥" or "I Got Shooters 🎩 Inna Tree 🌲 We Posted 🎰."
On March 19th, the day after Cofield's Instagram account and one especially concerning post were brought to the attention of Heritage High administration, the school's principal Jo Ellen Newhouse sent out an email alerting families that information regarding a threat had been received, and that WCPSS Security and law enforcement had been informed.
The now deleted post in question expresses appreciation for the Heritage "Huskys [sic]" while also including the phrase "We Gone Makem Run And Duck" in the caption:
Although his arrest record and conviction record including assault with a deadly weapon certainly do not weigh in his favor, people have been known to inaccurately portray themselves on the internet, and Cofield's online presence as a '"gangbanger" could be merely for artistic of aesthetic purposes, and is not necessarily reflective of his true lifestyle.
However, since the March 19th email, Cofield has been arrested and charged in two separate incidents, and is currently being held in a Wake County jail on a total bond of $17,000:
On March 31st, Cofield was arrested and charged with breaking or entering and injury to real property in relation to a March 17th incident down the street from his residence on Burlington Mills Rd. in Wake Forest
On April 1st, Cofield was further charged with malicious conduct by prisoner for allegedly using bodily fluid as a projectile against an officer at the jail on S. Salisbury St. in downtown Raleigh
Neither the Wake County Public School System nor Heritage High School responded to a request for comment and/or confirmation.