CASSIDY DODGES A BULLET

Phildelphia-based rapper Cassidy was on trial for his life this week as he faced first degree murder charges which could have carried the death penality. Fortunately for the rapper, he was found guilty of the lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of aggravated assault, and possession of an instrument of crime on Tuesday, January 24th. He was found not guilt of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. The Associated Press reports that Common Pleas Judge Jane Cutler Greenspan found the rapper to be grossly negligent for supplying the guns that killed Desmond Hawkins and wounded two of his companions and sentenced him to 11 1/2 to 23 months in prison. Cassidy has been behind bars since last June so he may be released in a couple of months.

The judge told the rapper, “You could be a leader in the community. All those guns – that’s why Desmond is gone now, because of all those guns.”

Cassidy, whose real name is Barry Reese, explained, “It’s a tragic situation for me too. I didn’t set up for this to happen. Desmond Hawkins was my friend … one of my closest friends.”

Cassidy was initially accused of shooting and killing Desmond Hawkins as the latter sat in a van parked behind Cassidy’s row home in the Cedarbrook section of Philadelphia on April 15th. Cassidy and Hawkins were allegedly involved in a dispute at a Rite Aid drug store earlier in the day, and when Hawkins and two friends went to the rapper’s home to allegedly make peace, he sent them to the back of his home, where they were ambushed.

Cassidy and two other men allegedly armed with handguns and assault rifles shot up the victim’s parked van. Hawkins was shot and killed, while Daniel Irvin suffered gunshot wounds to the right arm and abdomen, and Bobby Hoyle was shot in the right leg. The three victims were allegedly unarmed, but ballistics tests have revealed that at least twelve shots were fired from inside the van.