By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A Harlem-born rapper who turned himself in to police for a 1993 shooting he did not know was fatal pleaded not guilty to murder charges at his arraignment Thursday.
The rapper G-Dep, whose real name is Trevell Coleman, recently walked into an uptown precinct and admitted to shooting John Henkel at East 114th Street and Park Avenue when he was 18 years old on Oct. 19, 1993, in order to clear a guilty conscience, his lawyer said.
Coleman, 36, entered a plea of not guilty on Thursday, which is common practice for any defendant at arraignment time. There currently was no plea offer on the table, his lawyer Anthony Ricco said.
Henkel died in the shooting, although Coleman never knew this, and he believed he was only turning himself in for a non-fatal shooting, Ricco said.
"This would still be a cold case," Ricco said.
Coleman, who was trying to better his life and get off drugs, apparently does not regret his decision to make the initial confession even though he is now facing a second-degree murder charge, which carries 25 years to life in prison.
The victim was shot with a .40 caliber handgun three times in the torso after Coleman tried to rob him, according to the criminal complaint.
Coleman was ordered to be held without bail and did not argue for a release on bail on Thursday.
