A$AP Rocky Pleads Not Guilty Over Alleged 2021 Shooting

August 17, 2022 E Jazz Reporter

Prosecutors say Rocky fired two shots at former friend and collaborator A$AP Relli during a “heated discussion” last fall.

A$AP Rocky pleads not guilty to assault charges during his arraignment hearing at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on Aug. 17, 2022 in Los Angeles.

Irfan Khan-Pool/GI

A$AP Rocky pleaded not guilty Wednesday (Aug. 17) to charges that he fired a gun at former A$AP Mob member Terell Ephron during an altercation last fall in Hollywood.

At an arraignment in Los Angeles Superior Court, the rapper (real name Rakim Mayers) entered a not guilty plea on two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm over the November 2021 incident.

Rocky was charged on Monday over the alleged shooting, in which prosecutors say a heated discussion led the rapper to point a semi-automatic handgun at Ephron, better known as A$AP Relli. In another confrontation a short time later, Rocky allegedly fired the gun twice in Ephron’s direction.

“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 District Attorney George Gascón in a statement Monday announcing the charges.

Rocky was arrested on the charges in April at Los Angeles International Airport as he was returning home on a private plane after a vacation in Barbados with girlfriend Rihanna. He was quickly released on $550,000 bail and was home with her when the couple welcomed their first child together, a boy, on May 13.

A civil lawsuit filed earlier this month, first reported by Rolling Stone, confirmed that the victim in the shooting was Ephron, a former close friend and musical collaborator. Claiming he was in “fear for his life” and was grazed by either a bullet or a fragment, Ephron’s lawsuit accused Rocky of assault, battery, infliction of emotion distress and negligence.

At Wednesday’s arraignment, a preliminary hearing in the case was set for Nov 2.

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