Sunday, July 15, 2007

Rapper Remy Ma Arrested in NYC Shooting

Rapper Remy Ma Arrested in NYC Shooting

 
Published: July 15, 2007

Filed at 1:21 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) -- Grammy-nominated rapper Remy Ma was arrested Saturday on charges of attempted murder in a shooting outside a trendy Manhattan nightspot, police said.

The 26-year-old rapper, whose real name is Remy Smith, had been sought for questioning in the shooting of a 23-year-old woman early Saturday after a verbal dispute near a bar in the Meatpacking District. She reported to police Saturday evening and was also arrested on charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.

The rapper's manager said Saturday that she could not talk and referred calls to Remy Ma's attorney, who was with the rapper as she reported to police.

''I ask everyone to keep an open mind,'' attorney Scott Leemon said. ''Things are not always as they seem.''

He said an arraignment would be likely be held on Sunday.

A 911 call reporting gunfire led police to a woman with a gunshot wound. Three blocks away, officers discovered a luxury SUV owned by Remy Ma; the vehicle had been involved in a single-car crash and abandoned, police said.

The victim, Makeda Barnes-Joseph, was in stable condition at a hospital.

Sasha Tcherekoff, owner of the Pizza Bar, said a review of security videotape taken inside his nightspot showed the rapper and her friends having a good time before they exited.

''The police have indicated to us that the altercation happened a block away,'' the owner said. ''The security tapes determined there was no physical or verbal altercation while they were in the Pizza Bar.''

Remy Ma was nominated for a Grammy as part of the Terror Squad for the 2004 summer smash ''Lean Back.'' She also earned the ''Best Female Hip Hop'' award at the 2005 BET Awards.

She went on to a solo career, releasing last year's ''There's Something About Remy.'' She has appeared on recordings with best-selling performers including Fat Joe, Eminem and R. Kelly, according to a biography on her Web site.

 

 

On July 14, 2007, Remy Ma turned herself in to New York City police in relation to a shooting early that morning outside a Manhattan nightclub. Police say she was with a group of people outside the Pizza Bar, a Manhattan nightspot, when a fight broke out at 4 a.m. A gunshot to the torso wounded Makeda Barnes-Joseph, who was sitting in her car at the time.[1] The two women have been close friends for fifteen years. Witnesses indicate Remy Ma was enraged over $2000 USD that was missing from her purse and believed Makeda to be involved with the theft. Police sources indicate that Makeda identified her as the shooter. Security tapes from inside the club showed the rapper with her friends, but had no footage of the altercation.

Police asked her to come in for questioning after they discovered the abandoned Blue Cadillac Escalade, which had collided with a parked car a few blocks from the scene of the shooting. Barnes-Joseph was reported to be in the hospital in stable condition. Police arrested Remy Ma on charges of attempted murder, among others.

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