Naman Shrestha
Transitioning from the film sets to real life is not as easy as it looks, especially for child actors. In Investigation Discovery’s ‘Hollywood Demons: Child Stars Gone Violent,’ several popular child actors from the 1990s are put in the spotlight again, one of them being Dee Jay Daniels, whose life turned upside down after the transition. Featuring in the documentary, the former child actor shares intricate details of his life and talks about how he became tied to a horrific crime.
Dee Jay Daniels Was Connected to a Murder For a While
Born on October 17, 1988, in Montclair, California, Dorjan “Dee Jay” Lyndell Daniels grew up in the city of Compton, where he lived with a big family. Most of his family members were associated with the streets and had been in and out of jail multiple times. In an attempt to keep him away from the criminal aspect of the family, his parents encouraged him to pursue a career in acting since he was a kid. After featuring in the commercial for Honey Nut Cheerios, he landed the role that changed the course of his life — Michael Hughley in the sitcom titled ‘The Hughleys.’
Following his popularity from the sitcom, Dee Jay has also appeared in the 2005 Disney film ‘Sky High’ and numerous TV shows, such as ‘The Wayans Bros.,’ ‘Grace Under Fire,’ ‘Cold Case,’ and ‘In the House.’ After ‘The Hughleys’ ended, Dee Jay reportedly followed in the footsteps of his family and got involved with a gang. In 2011, he went to the Chivitas Restaurant in Stockton with a couple of his friends, Djuane Nunley and Marcus McCliman. There, the trio reportedly got involved in a brawl with a 26-year-old man named John Joseph Lewis, who was stabbed and later pronounced dead in the hospital.
Witness accounts led to the arrest of Dee Jay and his two friends, all of whom were charged with street terrorism and premeditated and attempted premeditated murder. During the trial, his co-star and TV parent, D.L. Hughley, testified as a character witness for him. Much to Dee Jay’s relief, the charges against him were lifted as he was acquitted of the crime on December 21, 2012. However, Marcus was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in connection to the murder of John Joseph Lewis and sentenced to 12 years in prison. As per Dee Jay, D.L. Hughley’s testimony in court came as a shock to him. He claimed, “I felt esteemed, honored, that I haven’t talked to my pops in so long and the fact that he’s still my pops, and that we still have that pops/son relationship, because I didn’t know we had that.”
Dee Jay Daniels is Trying to Make it Big in the Hip-Hop Industry Today
After his acquittal, Dee Jay Daniels has been focused on his hip-hop career. Also known as Boi Truth, he has released various rap songs over the years, which are available for streaming on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. In order to gain exposure and leave a mark on the rap industry just as he once did in the TV industry, he works alongside other artists like Unda Dawg, Twinn Boi, Lasia, and Yung Truth. Being a growing rap artist, Dee Jay also runs a YouTube channel, where he releases new music and music videos of songs like “Look at Me,” “Yired,” “The Sacrifice,” and more. On the other hand, he seems to prefer keeping matters of his personal life private and away from the limelight.
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