US rapper Rakim Mayers, popularly known as A$AP Rocky, will stand trial for pulling a gun twice on a former friend and shooting at him once, a court in Los Angeles ruled Monday.
The 35-year-old, who is the partner to R&B singer Rihanna, is being charged with two counts of assault with a semiautomatic handgun. He has however, denied the allegations.
Terell Ephron, one of the A$AP collective’s founding members, was left mildly hurt during the confrontation in Hollywood in November 2021, according to the court.
At a hearing last week, Ephron, also known as A$AP Relli, said the two men’s friendship had hit the rocks, accusing him of abandoning other members of the group, which was created in New York in 2008.
While A$AP Rocky has gone on to becoming more famous and richer, he claims that other members of the collective have fallen into poverty and drug usage.
Following the death of one of the group’s members, the two men engaged in an altercation that was partially captured on security video.
Ephron stated that A$AP Rocky pulled a gun and thrust it towards his stomach, saying, “I’ll kill you right now.”
Ephron claimed that in a later altercation, he told his former friend that he had “failed everybody” but that nobody was brave enough to tell him.
“I just wanted him to hear my side.” Ephron went on to say that Mayers had then shot at him, grazing his left hand with the bullet.
Mayers, who is out on bail, was scheduled to appear in court on January 8.
