By Abigail Holliday
Staff Writer
Rapper Rakim “A$AP Rocky” Mayers was found not guilty on two counts of felony assault with a firearm on Feb. 18.
Mayers was arrested back in 2022 in suspicion of shooting his childhood friend and fellow rapper A$AP Relli, who’s real name is Terell Ephron, on Nov. 6, 2021. Ephron claimed that after a verbal altercation, Mayers fired at him, hitting his knuckles. Four men were shown in security footage outside of the hotel where this took place, but nothing of the alleged shooting. The sound of two shots being fired was picked up by audio.
Mayers’ trial began on Jan. 21 of this year, where he was offered and then declined a plea deal. His lawyer Joe Tacopina stated, “He is not taking any plea, because he has always maintained his innocence." The stipulations of this deal were 180 days in jail, pleading guilty to both felonies, a seven year suspended sentence, three years of probation and 500 community service hours.
According to TMZ, Mayers rejected the plea deal because it “would have cost him his livelihood.” Declining this deal left him in the hands of the jury.
Ephron declared in court that Mayers pulled out a gun and shot at him, hitting his right hand. Video evidence was presented of Mayers in possession of a firearm before the shooting as back up to their claim.
He claimed, “the whole thing was like a movie, he kind of like pointed down and he shot the first shot.” Tacopina refuted the prosecution's submitted picture of Ephron’s knuckles, saying that there is no proof the injury was inflicted by Mayers.
The defense had witnesses on the stand to testify that the gun that Mayers had on his person was actually a prop gun from the set of a past music video that only shot blanks. Ephron was aware of this as well.
Tacopina claimed that Mayers’ only intention was to protect his friend that was with him at the time, Illijah Ulanga, or A$AP Illz. He stated that Ephron has “exaggerated” to extort Mayers. While the gun was an important part of the defense’s case, no gun was presented to the court, according to The New York Times.
Mayers never testified in his defense, however Ephron repeatedly took to the stand in frustration, saying, “I’m not on trial, I’ve been here for five days, dealing with this man. I’ve been looking stupid for five days.”
According to The New York Times, the trial lasted almost four weeks, and it took the jury nearly three hours before coming to a unanimous decision.
What was claimed to be the biggest piece of evidence to the jury was the fact that the LAPD was unable to confirm that a crime had taken place after arriving on scene. They were also unable to find any shell casings or proof that a weapon was fired.
After hearing that not guilty verdict, Mayers lunged into the gallery to hug famous R&B singer and mother of his children, Rihanna, along with Tacopina. The couple expressed their gratitude toward Tacopina, promising to name their next child after him.
