Kidd Creole, a founding member of Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Wednesday for fatally stabbing a homeless man on a New York City street.
Last month, the 62-year-old rapper, also known as Nathaniel Glover, was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of John Jolly, who was stabbed twice in the chest with a steak knife in midtown Manhattan in August 2017.
Glover was accused of stabbing Jolly after becoming outraged because he believed Jolly was gay and was hitting on him, according to prosecutors. After stabbing Jolly, Glover went to his nearby workplace, changed his clothes, and cleaned the knife, according to prosecutors. Glover was apprehended the next day.
Embed from Getty Images“Mr. Jolly’s death was devastating to his family and those who knew him,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a news release after the sentencing. “Every life we lose to violent crime ripples throughout our entire city, and we will continue to ensure everyone in our borough can live their lives with the sense of safety and security they deserve.”
According to the New York Times, Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Michele Rodney appeared to disagree with arguments made by Glover’s attorney, Scottie Celestin, who claimed during the trial that Glover felt in danger in part because Jolly was homeless.
“A life is a life,” Rodney said as she handed down her sentence to Glover, adding that the killing was not “somehow justified” because the victim was homeless.
Embed from Getty ImagesCelestin stated that he would file an appeal against his conviction.
Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five were formed in the Bronx in the late 1970s. “The Message,” from 1982, is the group’s most well-known song. They were the first rap group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
