Rap Pioneer Kidd Creole Found Guilty Of Fatally Stabbing Homeless Man In NYC Who He Thought Was Gay
Rap pioneer Kidd Creole has been found guilty of first-degree manslaughter for fatally stabbing a homeless man in 2017 after the rapper thought he was gay.
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As The Guardian reports, the musician, real name Nathaniel Glover, 62, who was an original member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five — had a run-in with a 55-year-old homeless man named John Jolly, on August 1, 2017, whom he believed was attempting to solicit him for sex. Kidd Creole stabbed Jolly, who later died in the hospital. The entertainer was arrested the day after the assault on a charge of second-degree murder and admitted to the attack during a police interview: “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,” he reportedly told police at the time. “So I was a little annoyed by that. He approached me. I got a little nervous. So then 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.” Prosecutors alleged that Kidd Creole’s motives were homophobic.
On Wednesday, a Manhattan jury came to the guilty verdict within hours of lawyers on both sides presenting their closing arguments, Rolling Stone reports. Creole will be sentenced on 4 May and faces a maximum of 25 years in prison. The news site notes that he had previously been working as a handyman and security guard in Manhattan.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, including Glover, were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 alongside rapper Jay-Z. The group and its members were hip-hop pioneers and known for the highly influential and acclaimed “The Message,” as well as other songs.
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