A$AP Rocky Declines Plea Deal in 2021 Shooting Case
Written by laserteam on January 22, 2025
(CBS News) – A$AP Rocky rejected a plea deal from prosecutors in his Hollywood assault case Tuesday as the trial began in downtown Los Angeles, a little over two years after he was charged with opening fire on a former friend and collaborator.
Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, has been in a long-running relationship with singer and business mogul Rihanna and the couple has two children together. His defense attorney previously told a judge that she may attend part of the trial in support.
Mayers, 36, allegedly pointed a handgun at the victim and fired twice in his direction during a later confrontation in Hollywood on Nov. 6, 2021, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The victim — fellow artist and childhood friend Terell Ephron, who previously performed as A$AP Relli — testified last year that bullets grazed his knuckles and he decided to seek medical treatment at a hospital after flying back to New York.
Both men were once members of the hip hop collective known as A$AP Mob.
Since being arrested in April 2022, the Grammy-nominated rapper has maintained his innocence. At the time, the Los Angeles Police Department announced his arrest in a statement describing the victim’s injury as “minor.” According to LAPD, the shots were fired in Hollywood near Selma Avenue and Argyle Avenue, just around the corner from the iconic Hollywood and Vine intersection.
