Google Map returning nullpointerexception Google Maps Android V2

I have a google map in a fragment in my application. Funny thing is that the map loads, but the logcat displays a NullPointerException, and I only noticed it when tried to update the camera on the map so that it could automatically zoom in on the marker. Only then the map will crash. Otherwise, the map loads fine in the fragment but with no marker (even though I am adding one using my current gps location).

EDITED*

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I understand that its crashing because the googleMap is null, but I don't understand why it's returning null. The map renders and well I've done this before and it usually crashes at that point. Doesn't render.

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Here is the logcat error

05-08 01:30:33.143  30130-30130/com.example.javed_000.famjam E/mapApp﹕ java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke virtual method 'com.google.android.gms.maps.GoogleMap com.google.android.gms.maps.SupportMapFragment.getMap()' on a null object reference
05-08 01:30:33.152  30130-30130/com.example.javed_000.famjam E/MapFragment﹕ lat = 10.7270913 and Long = -61.5544451
05-08 01:30:33.155  30130-30130/com.example.javed_000.famjam D/AndroidRuntime﹕ Shutting down VM
05-08 01:30:33.156  30130-30130/com.example.javed_000.famjam E/AndroidRuntime﹕ FATAL EXCEPTION: main
    Process: com.example.javed_000.famjam, PID: 30130
    java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke virtual method 'void com.google.android.gms.maps.GoogleMap.animateCamera(com.google.android.gms.maps.CameraUpdate)' on a null object reference
            at com.example.javed_000.famjam.MapFragment.getLocation(MapFragment.java:60)
            at com.example.javed_000.famjam.MapFragment.onCreateView(MapFragment.java:33)
            at android.support.v4.app.Fragment.performCreateView(Fragment.java:1786)
            at android.support.v4.app.FragmentManagerImpl.moveToState(FragmentManager.java:953)
            at android.support.v4.app.FragmentManagerImpl.moveToState(FragmentManager.java:1136)
            at android.support.v4.app.BackStackRecord.run(BackStackRecord.java:739)
            at android.support.v4.app.FragmentManagerImpl.execPendingActions(FragmentManager.java:1499)
            at android.support.v4.app.FragmentManagerImpl.executePendingTransactions(FragmentManager.java:488)
            at android.support.v4.app.FragmentStatePagerAdapter.finishUpdate(FragmentStatePagerAdapter.java:163)
            at android.support.v4.view.ViewPager.populate(ViewPager.java:1073)
            at android.support.v4.view.ViewPager.setCurrentItemInternal(ViewPager.java:555)
            at android.support.v4.view.ViewPager.setCurrentItemInternal(ViewPager.java:514)
            at android.support.v4.view.ViewPager.setCurrentItem(ViewPager.java:495)
            at com.example.javed_000.famjam.SlidingTabLayout$TabClickListener.onClick(SlidingTabLayout.java:283)
            at android.view.View.performClick(View.java:4780)
            at android.view.View$PerformClick.run(View.java:19866)
            at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:739)
            at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:95)
            at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:135)
            at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5254)
            at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
            at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:372)
            at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:903)
            at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:698)

This is my layout file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://ift.tt/nIICcg"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">

<fragment
    android:id="@+id/mapView"
    android:name="com.google.android.gms.maps.SupportMapFragment"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"/>

</RelativeLayout>

Here is my code snippet from the Map Fragment

private void createMapView(){
    try {
        if(googleMap == null){
            SupportMapFragment smf = (SupportMapFragment) getActivity().getSupportFragmentManager().findFragmentById(R.id.mapView);
            googleMap = smf.getMap();

            if(googleMap == null) {
                Toast.makeText(getActivity().getBaseContext(),
                        "Error creating map", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            }
        }
    } catch (NullPointerException exception){
        Log.e("mapApp", exception.toString());
    }
}

private void getLocation(){
    gps = new GPSTracker(this.getActivity());
    if(gps.CanGetLocation()){
        latitude = gps.getLatitude();
        longitude = gps.getLongitude();
        Log.e("MapFragment","lat = " + latitude + " and Long = " + longitude);
        addMarker(latitude,longitude);
        googleMap.animateCamera(CameraUpdateFactory.newLatLngZoom(new LatLng(latitude,longitude), 12));
    } else {
        gps.showSettingsAlert();
    }
}

private void addMarker(double lat, double lng){
    if(googleMap != null){
        googleMap.addMarker(new MarkerOptions()
                        .position(new LatLng(lat, lng))
                        .title("Marker")
                        .draggable(true)
        );
    }
}