American rapper, A$AP Rocky appeared in court today to hear former friend and fellow rapper A$AP Relli describe how the star nearly killed him in a hail of gunfire.
Rocky, real name Rakim Mayers, pleaded not guilty last August to two charges of assault with a semiautomatic firearm stemming from the 2021 incident.
He is facing up to eight years in jail if convicted on two felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm.
The Harlem-born hip hop star heard fellow A$AP Mob member Terell Ephron tell the court that Mayers, 35, threatened to kill him before firing at least four shots toward him on November 6, 2021.
Ephron told the preliminary hearing how their relationship deteriorated as Mayers’ career exploded and others in the group were left behind.
On the night of the shooting Mayers called him to a meeting at an LA hotel where they argued before Mayers pulled a gun on him, TMZ reported.
‘I’ll kill you right now,’ Ephron recalled him yelling as Mayers held a gun to his stomach, before firing a series of shots as he left the room.
One shot hit him in the hand but it was the following day before Ephron summoned up the courage to report the shooting and a warrant was issued for the rapper’s arrest.
Officers were also seen outside of his LA home, smashing into the gate with a battering ram, before apparently raiding the property. Detectives seized multiple boxes of evidence from the house.
It was not until four months after his arrest that LA DA George Gascon decided that the charges were serious enough to press for felony status, rather than misdemeanor which would have meant only a maximum of one year jail time for each count.
‘Discharging a gun in a public place is a serious offense that could have ended with tragic consequences not only for the person targeted but also for innocent bystanders visiting Hollywood,’ said Gascon after announcing the charges.
‘My office conducted a thorough review not the evidence in this case and determined that the addition of a special firearm allegation was warranted.’
But the alleged attack on Ephron is not Mayers’ first run-in with the law.
The rapper was arrested in Sweden in 2019 after a fight broke out on the street between his entourage and two men.
Mayers was convicted of assault, issued a suspended prison sentence, and required to pay more than $1,000 in damages. He reportedly served a month in jail before his sentence was handed down.
The performer, raised in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, was also charged with attempted murder at 16 years old.
Mayers, who started selling drugs during his youth, was reportedly bullied by an older man. He went to the alleged bully’s house to confront him and ended up firing a gun at him.
‘He tried to come at me in front of some ladies. And I was little. He was a little bit older than me,’ Mayers said two years ago, detailing the incident on Untold Stories of Hip-Hop.
