Rapper Capone and former Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil’ Cease testified in court yesterday (March 3) against Lil’ Kim in relation to the 2001
shootout outside Hot 97.
At the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Lil’ Cease, whose real name is James Lloyd, said Kim revealed to him that she had a relationship
with Damion Butler, who Kim is accused of lying to protect, New York Newsday reported.
Cease, who appeared with Kim on a Hot 97 show the day of the shooting, was one of several witnesses called upon to testify that Kim knew
Butler. Kim, born Kimberly Jones, and her personal assistant, Monique Dopwell, are charged with lying to a federal grand jury that
investigated the shooting.
Kim had told federal investigators that she did not see Butler at the shooting. Cease, who used to live with Butler in Leonia, N.J., said Kim’s relationship with Butler ended about two years after the shootout outside the radio station.
“I don’t know what happened,” Cease testified. “There was an argument about something. He came down the stairs and told her to get out, that it was his house…Damion threw her out…She was banging on the door.”
Kim is also accused of lying about not knowing Suif Jackson, the other man involved in the shooting. Jackson and Butler pleaded guilty to
federal gun charges.
Lil’ Kim’s 2000 music video, “No Matter What They Say,” where Butler and Jackson appear as extras, was shown to the jury as evidence. In the video, Kim was on a sofa while two men, who Cease identified as Butler and Jackson, watched her.
Regarding the shootout, Cease told jurors that Kim, along with members of her entourage, were outside of the station when they noticed rapper
Capone of the rival group Capone-N-Noreaga.
“Somebody approached him, they was conversating,” said Cease. “I heard a shot after and everybody got down on the floor. Some ran…I got down on the floor. Kimberly Jones she was on the floor next to me.”
Cease said he jumped into a limo with Lil’ Kim, Dopwell and Antoine Spain, another member of the entourage, and returned to Kim’s home in
Englewood, N.J., where Butler returned later. Cease said he did not see who fired the shots.
“Everybody was talking about how crazy it was
that it just went down,” said Cease, who said he severed ties with Kim shortly after the shooting.
Also testifying Thursday against Lil’ Kim was Capone, whose real name is Kiam Holley. Capone had been at Hot 97 for a separate appearance.
Capone told jurors that when he arrived at the station to promote his rap group, Capone-N-Noreaga, Kim and her entourage were leaving the
building.
“Some guy came up and said, `You got a problem with Kim?”‘ Capone testified. “I said, `Nah, I ain’t got no problem with Kim.”‘
Capone said he ran to a subway station and never called the police after gunfire erupted. One of his associates was wounded when shots
were fired.
Capone also testified that he and Kim were discovered by the Notorious B.I.G. but that he never joined Biggie’s Brooklyn-based entourage because of his lineage to Queens.
Kim’s perjury trial continues on Monday (March 7).