Several news reports have confirmed that Brooklyn rapper Troy Ave testified in incarcerated podcaster Taxstone’s murder trial, giving his testimony of what happened between the two Hip Hop personalities on that fateful night in 2016 following the shooting death of Troy Ave’s bodyguard.
Troy Ave, real name Roland Collins, told jurors on Monday that he would rather “die fighting” as his justification for fighting Taxstone, whose real name is Daryl Campbell, according to this after being shot backstage at Irving Plaza.
“If it’s fight or flight I’m always going to fight because at that point you could die,” Collins said. “It looks like if you see people wrestle in high school wrestling — that type of position.”
“When the shot goes off I see the light from the spark and I hear the shot,” he testified. “This is all happening fast. I get up and start fighting Taxstone, trying to take him, grab the gun, and another shot goes off. I put my leg up to kind of block the shot from hitting me in the face or chest.”
According to his testimony, Campbell then shot him in the legs. “I got up,” Collins said. “I’d rather die fighting. People die from leg shots. I’d rather die fighting than laying on the ground. I got up immediately.” As he described the chaotic scene, Collins said he saw his friend and bodyguard Ronald “Banga” McPhatter was laying on the floor face down. “I rolled his body over and I’m like, ‘Banga, get up. Come on.’ I’m smacking him, like, ‘C’mon bro. Get up,'” Collins testified. “And his eyes were rolling to the back of his head. His shirt was red so I could tell he got shot.”
Taxstone is currently on trial on murder, attempted murder, assault, and weapons possession charges. He faces at least 20 years behind bars if convicted of these charges. TheSource.com will update this story as details develop.
