CIVIC CENTER — Rapper Troy Ave is working on a bail agreement that his defense attorneys hope to have ready next week, they said Wednesday after his Supreme Court arraignment in connection to the deadly Irving Plaza shooting last month.
The rapper, whose legal name is Roland Collins, appeared in court on Wednesday in a wheelchair to be arraigned where he pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and weapons possession charges for a May 25 shooting at Irving Plaza that left his 33-year-old bodyguard, Ronald McPhatter, dead, according to a spokeswoman for the prosecutor.
Troy Ave's defense team is working toward a bail agreement, which will likely be set at $500,000 and involve GPS monitoring, according to John Stella, one of Troy Ave's lawyers.
Investigators believe that Troy Ave accidentally shot himself in the leg, and that he was the one to fire the fatal shot that hit McPhatter in the stomach, according to police sources.
He has been behind bars since a day after the shooting, after police obtained video from inside the venue showing him shooting. A judge ordered Troy Ave held without bail Wednesday pending his next court hearing on July 1.
But Stella has maintained that Troy Ave. never shot McPhatter, and he has not been charged with his murder.
“It is highly improbable that there is ever going to exist any evidence that Troy intentionally fired at his best friend with intent to kill him, or otherwise fired that gun in the green room at all,” Stella said, “Our position has always been that he never fired any shots in that green room.”
The prosecution and lawyers for Troy Ave have until July 14 to file motions in the case, and a judge will decide on those motions on Sept. 8, according to defense attorneys and prosecutors.
Troy Ave was arrested at NYU Langone Medical Center on May 26, the day after the shooting at Irving Plaza and shortly after police released video footage that they say shows the rapper limping out of a VIP room and firing shots in a crowded balcony area.
The charges in the grand jury indictment against Troy Ave stem from the chaos captured on video, while the fighting inside the green room, where shots first rang out, are still under investigation, according to Stella and a spokeswoman for the district attorney.
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