S. Samuel
Wu-Tang Clan affiliate Shyheim Franklin's problems are starting to mount up in a hurry weeks after killing a 29-year-old man in New York from a fatal hit-and-run.
According to reports, the rapper appeared in court this week and had his charges upgraded.
Shyheim Franklin didn’t hesitate to take to YouTube recently in a bid to raise cash to fight charges accusing him of causing a fatal New Year’s Day hit-and-run wreck in New Brighton. But the Wu-Tang clan cohort didn’t have much to say Thursday at his arraignment in state Supreme Court, St. George. Perhaps, that’s because a grand jury has elevated charges against the 29-year-old rapper to include second-degree manslaughter. Franklin, who was initially charged with leaving an incident scene without reporting, is also accused under a 10-count indictment of criminally negligent homicide, second-degree assault and driving with a suspended or revoked license. Prosecutors allege the defendant was speeding and blew through a stop sign before slamming into Felipe Avila Olea’s 1996 Toyota Celica at about 5:07 a.m. on Lafayette Avenue. (SI Live)
Details of Shyheim’s latest legal woes surfaced online last week.
A Wu-Tang Clan cohort who once worked with hip hop’s biggest names drove the car in a New Brighton hit-and run crash that killed a 29-year-old bakery worker New Year’s Day, according to police sources. Shyheim Franklin, 36, who has rapped under the names Manchild, Little Shyheim and The Rugged Child, surrendered himself to police on Wednesday in connection with the 5:07 a.m. crash, which killed Felipe Avila of Tompkinsville, police sources said. He’s expected to face a charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident, which is a class D felony, those sources said. (Staten Island Advance)
A detailed account of what allegedly took place had also surfaced following the fatal incident.
That morning, Avila was headed to work at the Rosamaria Bakery on Vreeland Avenue in Port Richmond, driving a black 1996 Toyota Celica on Lafayette Avenue, Richmond Terrace-bound. Franklin, meanwhile, was driving east on Cassidy Place in a 1996 Volvo S80 belonging to a close friend, police sources said. He blew through a stop sign and slammed into Avila’s car, then hit a parked Dodge Ram before getting out of the Volvo and running off, police sources said. Sources said Franklin left blood in the Volvo and on the driver’s side airbag. Franklin was out on $10,000 bail at the time of the crash, after his April arrest on gun and drug possession charges. (Staten Island Advance)
Last year, Shy publicly spoke out after a publicized arrest at his home.
“I really can’t talk about the case, but you know, sh*t, [it’s] not looking too good right now. But, I [maintain] my innocence, I’m innocent. And that’s that. I don’t really know what else to say: I’m out, I’m okay, I’m healthy [and] I wanna thank everybody for their support. I just got out a couple of hours ago so my mind is all over the place you know what I’m sayin’, but it is some very serious charges, I’m looking at some serious time of course.” (HHDX)
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