Rapper A$AP Rocky will stand trial for allegedly shooting at a former friend and collaborator after a judge on Monday ruled that there is sufficient evidence to prosecute him, CBS News reported.
The rapper, whose real name is Rakim Athelaston Mayers, allegedly shot at his childhood friend Terell Ephron and injured him during a November 2021 confrontation in Hollywood. The ruling was made by Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar during a preliminary hearing where Ephron also testified.
The 35-year-old rapper, who shares two children with fellow entertainer Rihanna, has been charged with two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. He has pleaded not guilty. During the hearing, A$AP Rocky’s attorney also tried to raise uncertainties about the case when he was cross-examining a police detective.
Villar, however, ultimately ruled that A$AP Rocky must stand trial as “the totality of the video and testimony” makes it clear there is ample evidence for prosecution. Villar indicated that the evidence standard for preliminary hearings isn’t higher than a trial, and she was just finding probable cause, CBS News reported.
Ephron, who is also known as A$AP Relli, took the stand during the first day of the hearing. He said he and the defendant were childhood friends and members of a musical and artistic collective at their high school in New York.
Ephron said his relationship with A$AP Rocky went downhill and caused the incident on November 6, 2021. He said his former friend initially drew a gun on him before later opening fire. The shots A$AP Rocky allegedly fired grazed Ephron’s knuckles. Ephron reported the incident to the police after two days.
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, A$AP Rocky was arrested at the Los Angeles airport last April in connection with the shooting. The rapper, who was named as a suspect in the shooting, was coming back from a trip in Barbados with his girlfriend Rihanna when officers detained him at the Los Angeles International Airport before arresting him for “assault with a deadly weapon.”
This is not the first time that A$AP Rocky is facing legal trouble. The Long. Live. ASAP rapper was detained in Sweden in 2019 after a street fight. During the trial, he claimed self-defense, saying that two men were harassing his entourage. He was convicted of assault, given a suspended prison sentence, and was ordered to pay a fine of $1,307.
