fyreflye
3/24/2013 1:56:00 AM
June trial set for would-be rapper accused of malicious wounding
He is accused of wounding friend Dec. 26 in Henrico
Posted: Friday, March 15, 2013 12:00 am | Updated: 12:44 pm, Fri Mar
15, 2013.
BY BILL McKELWAY Richmond Times-Dispatch
A Henrico County judge Thursday scheduled a two-day trial in June for
an aspiring rap star who, according to a prosecutor, apparently
believed that he had to sacrifice his friend to reach stardom.
Henrico Circuit Judge L.A. Harris Jr. denied bond Thursday for Wafeeq
Sabir El-Amin, 27, after Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Thomas L.
Johnson described El-Amin as a danger to the public and a man who was
so overcome with marijuana when questioned by detectives that he could
not remember the events of the month in which he committed the alleged
crime.
“You are my sacrifice,” Johnson quoted El-Amin as saying before he
allegedly fired a shot toward his friend’s head inside a Henrico home
that was to become a music studio.
El-Amin is listed in state records as the registered agent of Break
Bread Inc., located in the 1000 block of Athens Avenue just north of
Brook and Parham roads.
According to a search warrant, the shooting at the now-abandoned
dwelling the night of Dec. 26 occurred after prolonged marijuana use.
The victim awoke from a drowsy sleep to see El-Amin pointing a gun at
his head and saying he needed to be sacrificed, according to the
search warrant.
The bullet ricocheted off the victim’s hand sending bone and skin
fragments into his eye, according to the warrant, but the victim was
able to get hold of the gun and shoot El-Amin in the stomach before he
ran off.
The victim has not been charged.
(!)Johnson said in court Thursday that the trial will delve into the
hip-hop music culture and the notion that a secret society called the
Illuminati has control over the success of some performers.(!)
It was the belief that a sacrifice had to occur in order to join the
Illuminati that allegedly incited El-Amin, Johnson said. Investigators
recovered more than a pound of marijuana from the Athens Avenue home,
according to the search warrant, as well as literature dealing with
the Illuminati and its alleged connection to the music industry.
Harris, in denying bond for El-Amin, who waved happily to family
members in the courtroom Thursday, said he was concerned about
Johnson’s representations that El-Amin claimed no knowledge of what
occurred in December because of the amount of marijuana he had smoked.
Johnson said in court that a book about the role of the Illuminati in
hip-hop music and especially in the career of rap star 50 Cent was an
obsession for El-Amin.
El-Amin, who has a South Richmond address and no prior criminal
record, is charged with malicious wounding, use of a firearm in
commission of a felony, possession of marijuana and possession with
intent to distribute marijuana. He was indicted by a grand jury
earlier this year.