New York City, US, Feb 18 (EFE) .- A Los Angeles jury Tuesday found rapper A$AP Rocky not guilty of two counts of felony assault for allegedly shooting a former collaborator near the Hollywood area in 2021.
The jury reached the verdict after three hours of deliberation at the conclusion of the felony assault trial, which has lasted about three weeks and threatened to end his career.
“Thank y’all for saving my life. Thank y’all for making the right decision,” said the rapper after the verdict, after which he went to hug his partner, singer Rihanna, who has been ing him in court with their two young children.
Rakim Mayers, known as A$AP Rocky, faced two counts of assault after his former friend and collaborator, Terell ‘Relli’ Ephron, accused him of shooting her with a gun in November 2021 in a dispute near a hotel in Hollywood.
The artist pleaded not guilty, rejected a plea deal, and faced a trial that would have sentenced him to a maximum of 24 years in prison if convicted.
Ephron, for her part, said that Mayers shot at her and that a bullet grazed her hand.
According to local media reports, the jury was told that if they considered that the accused had fired blanks or that he had done so in self-defense, as he believed that another collaborator was in danger in the dispute, they could declare him not guilty.
The New York rapper was arrested in April 2022 in connection with the incident at a Los Angeles airport when he was returning from a trip with Rihanna.
The two-time Grammy-nominated rapper rose to fame as a member of the hip-hop collective ASAP Mob, from which he adopted his moniker, and of which Ephron, who was a childhood friend of his, was also a part. EFE
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