Rapper Kidd Creole, a founding member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, was found guilty of manslaughter on Wednesday by a Manhattan jury. The conviction came more than a week after the trial of the 62-year-old rapper, whose real name is Nathaniel Glover, began in New York City following the August 2017 stabbing death of a homeless man in midtown Manhattan.
In a statement obtained by The New York Times, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said, “Nathaniel Glover committed a shocking act of violence. This conviction makes clear my office will hold people who commit violent crime accountable to the full extent of the law.” Glover is scheduled to be sentenced May 4.
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The conviction stemmed from Glover’s 2017 arrest on murder charges. The incident occurred as Glover was walking to his maintenance job in Midtown Manhattan shortly before midnight on Aug. 1, 2017. J According to prosecutors, Jolly, 55, and Glover exchanged words before Glover stabbed Jolly twice in the chest with a steak knife. Jolly was transported to a hospital, where he died as a result of his injuries, after being found by a group of tourists. Glover, meanwhile, reportedly rushed to his workplace, changed his clothes, and cleaned the knife. He left approximately 15 minutes later and disposed of the murder weapon in a seer, where it was later found by police.
Glover’s lawyer, Scottie Celestin, argued that his client was acting in self-defense, with ABC 7 New York reporting that he told jurors, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is New York City. It’s 12 o’clock at night. Who’s saying ‘What’s up?’ to you with good intentions? His fear for his life was reasonable.” However, Assistant District Attorney Mark Dahl told the jury Glover confessed to police and said he did not stab Jolly in self-defense.
“The defendant confessed to pulling out a kitchen knife and repeatedly thrusting it into the body of a stranger on the street, killing him,” Dahl said. “Was there anything that would prevent him from simply running away from Mr. Jolly? No.”
Glover was a member of the groundbreaking rap group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The group included Melle Mel, The Keith Cowboy, Mr. Ness/Scorpio, and Rahiem. Their biggest single is considered to be “The Message,” which was released in 1982. It is often referred to as one of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time. After disbanding in the mid-’80s, the group split into two parts before briefly reuniting in 1987. The group became the first rap act to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
