A$AP Rocky has hinted at impending trial for the November 2021 shooting of his former friend Terell Ephron (formally known as A$AP Relli), after failing to show up for a pretrial hearing last month.
The rapper, 35, appears on Doja Cat’s song ‘URRRGE!!!!!!!!!!!!’ from his new LP Scarlet 2: Claude, which was released last Friday.
During his verse, A$AP Rocky, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, declares his innocence after comparing himself to Thugnificent, a character from the animated show The Boondocks.
The New York native raps, ‘Yeah, I look like Thugnificent / Will someone tell the judge I’m innocent?’
If convicted of two felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm, A$AP Rocky could face up to eight years in prison.
A$AP Rocky has hinted at impending trial for the November 2021 shooting of his former friend Terell Ephron (formally known as A$AP Relli), after failing to show up for a pretrial hearing last month; A$AP Rocky seen in November 2023
He had a pretrial hearing scheduled for March 8, which he skipped. No trial date was set, but the court scheduled a hearing for May 26.
In January, A$AP Rocky (born Rakim Athelaston Mayers) pleaded not guilty to felony firearm charges for shooting Ephron Hollywood in November 2021.
In November, Superior Court Judge ML Villar ruled there was enough evidence for a trial at a preliminary hearing, after hearing about a day and a half of testimony.
Rocky previously pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm. His lawyer tried to cast doubt on the case while he questioned a police detective.
Villar said that ‘the entirety of the video and the testimonies’ demonstrate that there is sufficient evidence for the accused to go to trial. He emphasized that preliminary hearings have a much lower standard of evidence than a trial, and that he was only finding probable cause.
Rocky, sitting in the courtroom, showed no visible reaction.
Prosecutors allege that on Nov. 6, 2021, Mayers pointed a gun at Terell Ephron, once known as A$AP Relli, and then, during a confrontation, shot Ephron, leaving him with minor injuries.
The rapper, 35, appears on Doja Cat’s new song ‘URRRGE!!!!!!!!!!!’
The song is included on Doja’s new LP, Scarlet 2: Claude, which came out last Friday; Doja seen in February
Los Angeles Police Department Detective Frank Flores took the witness stand Monday and verified videos of the attack presented by the prosecution, Rolling Stone reported.
Flores testified that surveillance footage showed a gun in the rapper’s hand, but when pressed by the defense, he admitted the gun was never recovered.
At an earlier hearing, Ephron testified that Mayers put the gun to her stomach and said, “I’ll kill you right now,” before shooting and leaving the room.
Ephron said he and the ‘F*****g Problems’ rapper were teenage friends and members of the A$AP collective, a group of New York high school students looking to make music and pursue other forms of art.
He said their friendship continued as Mayer’s fame grew, but began to falter when he began to withdraw from his business ventures.
Prosecutors played surveillance video that appears to show Mayers brandishing a gun and possibly shooting it, something his attorneys denied.
The father of Rihanna’s two children was first detained in April last year when he returned to Los Angeles airport from Barbados, where he had been on vacation with his then-pregnant girlfriend.
In his verses, the New York native raps: ‘Yeah, I look like Thugnificent / Will someone tell the judge that I’m innocent?’; A$AP Rocky seen in February 2024
He had a pretrial hearing scheduled for March 8, which he skipped. No trial date was set, but the court scheduled a hearing for May 26.
He was later released on $550,000 bail. Officers were seen outside his Los Angeles home, smashing the door with a battering ram, before apparently storming the property. Detectives confiscated several boxes of evidence from the home.
Four months after his arrest, the charges were upgraded to a felony, rather than a misdemeanor, which would have meant only a year in jail for each charge.
At this preliminary hearing, a judge will determine if there is sufficient evidence to move forward with the trial.
The rapper is represented by the same attorney who represents former President Donald Trump in his criminal case in New York, Joe Tacopina.