A$AP Rocky Relieved After Not Guilty Verdict in 2021 Shooting,Thanks Everyone For 'Saving' His Life

An intense, three-week-long Los Angeles shooting trial wrapped up Wednesday afternoon with the acquittal of Harlem-born rapper A$AP Rocky, aka Rakim Mayers, on all counts.

The verdict was read Tuesday in a Downtown Los Angeles courtroom, finding Rocky not guilty of two felony assault charges stemming from a November 6, 2021, altercation outside the W Hotel in Hollywood between Rocky and his former friend and current accuser, A$AP Relli, per Variety.

A confrontation led to the prosecution's assertion that Rocky had shot his ex-friend, Terell Ephron (aka A$AP Relli), with a gun.

The gallery burst into cheers when the jury returned their verdict. As fans rejoiced over the ruling, Rocky wrapped his partner, pop megastar Rihanna, and his mother and sister in his arms.

Rocky, who appeared visibly relieved, spoke at the end of the court hearing this week and thanked everyone for "saving" his life, according to AllHipHop.

Rocky's defense attorney, Joe Tacopina, said Ephron's injuries matched "a knuckle scrape," not a gunshot wound. Tacopina claimed Rocky pulled the trigger of a prop gun to disperse a fight between Ephron and Rocky's group.

It was the case that relied heavily on the gathering of proof from the crime scene. Police did not find any shell casings initially, but Ephron later said he found two 9mm casings.

This evidence, they argued, was planted by Ephron after going to a gun range weeks earlier.

Ephron has dismissed a 30 million dollar civil suit against Rocky, a move the defense used to argue the motive behind the accusations.

With no one to counterpunch, Rihanna did not give evidence but turned up to lend support throughout the trial.

During the state's rebuttal, Judge Arnold said that the presence of her and their children must not be mentioned.

If convicted, Rocky faced a maximum of 24 years in prison but turned down a plea deal in which he would have received a 180-day jail sentence. A$AP Mob was a New York-based collective formed in 2006 that included the rapper Ephron and others.

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