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The verdict comes after a three-week trial dissecting the claim that Rocky shot former friend and clique member A$AP Relli.
Born Terell Ephron, Relli says the beef erupted when Rocky promised to pay the funeral expenses for A$AP Josh after his passing.
“You so f-cking fake it’s sad,”
read the text he sent Rocky.
During the trial, Relli testified that he later learned that Rocky did actually cover the costs. Still, the realization was too late and already led to a heated disagreement between the two on Nov. 6, 2021.
That’s when they agreed to meet near Hollywood’s W Hotel to hash things out, but Relli says Rocky pulled a gun, pressed it to his chest, and threatened to kill him.
“He grabbed me on my collar. He was shaking me. I tried to push him off, get his hands off,” Relli said in the courtroom, according to
PEOPLE. “That’s when [Rocky] pulled a gun from his waistband. It was a standard clip and a semiautomatic black gun.”
With A$AP Illz and A$AP Twelvyy also present,
surveillance video shows the altercation and Rocky clutching a gun behind his back but no actual footage of him firing the weapon.
In court, Relli showed his grazed knuckles to prove he was shot, though the defense claims
he planted two shell casings after police searched the area and found nothing.
Rocky’s legal team held steadfast that the gun he carried was a
prop gun that only shot blanks.
The Harlem-born rapper was initially facing 24 years in prison, but according to
NBC, the prosecutors were only seeking eight years.
See how social media is reacting to the not-guilty verdict below.
