Rapper Kidd Creole guilty of manslaughter after stabbing homeless man he ‘thought was gay’
Rapper Kidd Creole guilty of manslaughter after homophobic attack on homeless man (Johnny Nunez/Getty Images)
Rapper Kidd Creole has been found guilty of manslaughter after an attack on a homeless man in Manhattan, New York, who he “thought was gay”.
Creole – real name Nathaniel Glover – was found guilty of fatally stabbing John Jolly, 55, in Manhattan on 1 August 2017. Jolly allegedly asked him “What’s up?” before the confrontation, authorities said.
The 62-year-old rapper, who was the founding member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, the first rap group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, now faces a prison sentence of up to 25 years when he is sentenced next month.
Kidd Creole claimed self-defence during his trial in March, with his lawyer Scottie Celestin telling the jury that Creole thought at the time that Jolly might have tried to harm him, the Associated Pressreported.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is New York City. It’s 12 o’clock at night. Who’s saying ‘What’s up?’ to you with good intentions?” Celestin said.
“His fear for his life was reasonable.”
Celestin also argued that Jolly died from a dose of the sedative benzodiazepine that was given to him at a hospital, not the stab wounds.
According to LBC, prosecutors said the rapper stabbed Jolly twice in the chest with a steak knife after becoming enraged because he thought Jolly was gay and hitting on him. Jolly was found wounded by tourists minutes after the attack.
In a taped interview to police, Kidd Creole explained he felt “a little nervous” when Jolly approached him.
He said: “To tell the truth, I thought he was gay, and because I thought he was gay, and he was saying that to me, ‘What’s up?’, I was thinking that he was thinking I was gay.”
“I tried to back up a little bit and he moved forward, and then I just took the knife and stabbed him… I wish I never would have seen him.
“It’s all my fault, because I chose to stab him. I have to take responsibility for that.”
The musician is due to be sentenced next month.
