Rap lyrics written by a man charged in the shooting of two New York Police Department detectives were presented as evidence Monday (Dec. 11) by federal prosecutors. Ronnell Wilson, 24, who is on trial in a Brooklyn federal court, is charged with killing undercover detectives James Nemorin and Rodney Andrews in Staten Island in March 2003. Colleen Kavanagh, a federal prosecutor, stated that Wilson bragged about “shooting his victim in the back of the head” in his lyrics, which were written on two sheets of paper and found in Wilson’s pants pocket.Leave a 45 slugs in da back of ya head/Cause I’m gettin dat bread, ain’t goin stop to I’m dead/ wrote Wilson, who Kavanagh said identified himself under the nickname “Rated R.” According to reports, Nemorin, 36, and Andrews, 34, were shot in the head and dumped on a street after a weapons-buying sting went wrong. Wilson allegedly wrote the lyrics while he was on the run.Wilson was one of several men arrested in connection with the slaying. The other six suspects pleaded guilty to various charges. Although prosecutors believe Wilson wrote the lyrics after the shootings, defense attorneys countered by saying the lyrics are boastful fantasies. The defense plans on calling a rap expert to support their claim, reports state. The trial is the latest case in which prosecutors have used rap lyrics as evidence of criminal acts, intent or mindset.
Rap lyrics
written by a man charged in the shooting of two New York Police Department detectives
were presented as evidence Monday (Dec. 11) by federal prosecutors. Ronnell
Wilson, 24, who is on trial in a Brooklyn federal court, is charged with killing
undercover detectives James Nemorin and Rodney Andrews in Staten Island in March
2003. Colleen
Kavanagh, a federal prosecutor, stated that Wilson bragged about “shooting
his victim in the back of the head” in his lyrics, which were written on
two sheets of paper and found in Wilson’s pants pocket.Leave
a 45 slugs in da back of ya head/Cause I’m gettin dat bread, ain’t goin stop to
I’m dead/ wrote Wilson, who Kavanagh said identified himself under the nickname
“Rated R.” According
to reports, Nemorin, 36, and Andrews, 34, were shot in the head and dumped on
a street after a weapons-buying sting went wrong. Wilson allegedly wrote the lyrics
while he was on the run.Wilson
was one of several men arrested in connection with the slaying. The other six
suspects pleaded guilty to various charges. Although
prosecutors believe Wilson wrote the lyrics after the shootings, defense attorneys
countered by saying the lyrics are boastful fantasies. The
defense plans on calling a rap expert to support their claim, reports state. The
trial is the latest case in which prosecutors have used rap lyrics as evidence
of criminal acts, intent or mindset.