A man went to work on a Friday night and never went home. Nine days later, a young woman who dreamed of being a reality star was shot dead after a night out. The two cases are not identical, and that matters. They sit in the same ecosystem, though, and we need to talk about it.
Nine days, two deaths
On October 3 in San Francisco, Ulysses Tykee Davis, a 47-year-old father of six, was working security at the Warfield Theatre when he was fatally shot around 1 a.m. following a disturbance at the Baddies USA: Chapter Three event. His wife and two of his children were in the theater and saw him take his last breaths in the hallway, according to his brother-in-law. Complexmissionlocal
The night had already come apart. Bartenders said a chemical irritant, described as bear mace, was sprayed inside around 12:45 a.m., sending people rushing for the exits. Staff Slack messages warning of gunfire followed about 20 minutes later. Police say the suspect had been escorted out after an incident inside, and an argument followed outside. Davis’s brother-in-law says he was helping escort a “rowdy” woman out when she shot him in the back. Suspect charged with murder in Warfield security guard killing +2
Shakia Vanderbilt, 32, has been charged with murder with a firearm enhancement, discharging a firearm in an occupied building, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The DA said it appears she may have brought the gun into the venue. She is charged, not convicted, and authorities haven’t confirmed whether Davis was specifically targeted. Police are also checking whether the Warfield had the proper permits for the event. Suspect charged with murder in Warfield security guard killing +2
On October 12 in Oakland, Mackayla Paige, known as Kash, 29, was fatally shot in downtown Oakland early Sunday morning. She had appeared on “Real West Coast Baddies,” “RoomH8z” and “Young & Reckless.” Officers were called to the 200 block of 14th Street shortly after 1:30 a.m. Police arrested a woman from Richmond but haven’t released her identity or what led to the shooting. Social media posts claim Kash was shot during a fight, but police haven’t said what led up to it. Reality TV personality “Kash” killed in downtown Oakland shooting, woman arrested +3
Hours earlier, Kash had posted Instagram Stories of herself enjoying a night out. Her cousin told KTVU, “She wanted to be famous so bad,” and said she wanted to be a reality star, start a business and do makeup. ktvuyahoo
What we know and what we don’t
Before the comment section does what it does, here are the limits of the evidence. Davis was not a cast member. He was a working man doing a security job, and the person charged in his death was reportedly an attendee, not someone from the show. Kash’s death is only hours old, and whatever the posts say, the police haven’t said what happened. Nobody should claim that a show pulled a trigger. The argument is bigger than that.
The format is the problem
Baddies didn’t invent the brawl. The franchise was created by Natalie Nunn, one of many cast members who came over from Bad Girls Club, and it launched in 2021 as Baddies ATL. It grew season by season, and has since run through Baddies South, West, East, Caribbean, Midwest, Africa and Baddies USA, now into its second chapter in 2026. Every season sells the same product: young women, alcohol, cameras, grudges and a physical confrontation. WikipediaWikipedia
The format has spread. Now That’s TV streams shows centered on social media personalities, and many of its programs feature physical fights between cast members. The network was created by Black entrepreneur Teleau Belton. The imitators don’t just copy the fighting, they copy the incentive. Conflict gets clicks, and clicks get a platform. balleralertwhereisthebuzz
Law enforcement has noticed. San Francisco’s police chief said Baddies events are known for confrontation and fights. When the chief of police says out loud that your event is known for fights, that is a risk assessment, not gossip. Someone should have priced it in. suggest
The room is not a set
On television, a fight has editors, producers and a crew standing by. At a live event it has a crowd, a bar, a coat check and one door. Fans are sold the idea that the fight is the point, and then we act shocked when somebody in the audience decides to make it real. Bear mace in a packed theater and a gun that got past screening are not a plot twist. They are what happens when an event markets chaos and staffs it like a concert.
This isn’t about blaming fans. It’s about what was promised, what was permitted and what was prepared. The question of who signed off on this event, with what security plan and under what permit, belongs at the center of the story. Neither the Warfield nor Zeus CEO Lemuel Plummer had responded to requests for comment in the first days after the shooting. ktvu
Who carries the risk
Look at who gets hurt and who gets paid. Davis worked a shift. Kash chased a dream. In January, Pee Wee, a 23-year-old contestant on Zeus’s Two Ways with Erica Mena, was found shot in St. Louis after being reported missing while out delivering packages for his job. A man has been charged with first-degree murder. No reporting I found ties his death to the show, and it would be wrong to pretend otherwise. But the pattern is plain. The people at the bottom of this economy are young, hungry and expendable, and they take on the risk. TMZ
Meanwhile, the people at the top face accountability questions that rarely seem to land. A Baddies Gone Wild cast member, Jadynn Brown, filed a Los Angeles lawsuit on July 1 accusing Plummer of sexual assault, harassment, coercion, retaliation and wrongful termination, and Plummer denies it. She alleges he used promises of stardom as leverage. These are allegations, not findings, but they describe a power imbalance in which a cast member’s career depends on staying in the network’s good graces. theshaderoomComplex
The violence has also been on screen for years. In 2023, Woah Vicky was reported to be pursuing assault charges against Chrisean Malone, and she skipped the reunion taping. Plummer publicly disputed that any assault took place. A culture that treats on-camera violence as content and off-camera conflict as publicity will keep blurring the line, and eventually someone pays for it. Wikipedia
What accountability looks like
If we want something other than another round of thoughts and prayers, the ask is not complicated. Venues and promoters need to verify permits, publish their security plans, and screen for weapons and chemical sprays, and they shouldn’t book events their own police chief calls fight-prone without a serious plan. Networks need to take public responsibility for live events carrying their brand, fund real security and medical staff, and answer questions when someone dies. Cast members deserve an actual duty of care, from housing and alcohol policies to aftercare and de-escalation, instead of a system that rewards escalation. And those of us in the audience, and in the commentary business, need to ask whether the brawl clips we amplify are paying for anyone’s funeral.
Somebody always pays
Ulysses Davis went to work. Kash went out for the night. Neither of them went home. You can argue about causation, and you should, carefully and with the facts in hand. But you cannot argue that this is a healthy business model. When the fight is the product, somebody eventually gets killed, and it is never the people counting the money.
