Jurors reportedly reached a decision in The Kidd Creole murder case on Wednesday (April 6). According to ABC7 New York,the former member of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious 5 (real name Nathanial Glover) was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter in a Manhattan courtroom, beating the more serious charge of second-degree murder.
Still, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg didn’t mince words when he spoke about the 2017 killing of the 55-year-old homeless man John Jolly.
“Nathaniel Glover committed a shocking act of violence,” Bragg said. “This conviction makes clear my office will hold people who commit violent crime accountable to the full extent of the law.”
While Kidd Creole’s attorney Scottie Celestin claimed it was self-defense and believed “his fear for his life was reasonable,” Assistant District Attorney Mark Dahl reminded the jury Kidd Creole confessed to police and admitted he stabbed Jolly in anger because he thought the man was hitting on him.
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“The defendant confessed to pulling out a kitchen knife and repeatedly thrusting it into the body of a stranger on the street, killing him,” Dahl said. “Was there anything that would prevent him from simply running away from Mr. Jolly? No.”
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Speaking to HipHopDX, legendary Hip Hop promotor and close friend to multiple members of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5 Van Silk agreed with Celestin, who said Jolly died from a dose of the sedative benzodiazepine that was given to him at a hospital — not the stab wounds.
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“Personally, I feel that Kidd Creole is being charged with manslaughter and found guilty is unjustified,” Van Silk tells DX. “Especially when Mr. Jolly, who came towards Creole, didn’t die from the stab wounds but from the dose of medicine givento him at the hospital. I hope they give him time served.”
Kidd Creole, who’s partially responsible for the 1982 groundbreaking anthem “The Message,” is expected to be sentenced on May 4. He faces up to 25 years in prison.
