One of the founding members of the pioneering hip-hop group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five has been sentenced to 16 years in prison after stabbing a homeless man to death on a New York City street.
Kidd Creole, whose real name is Nathaniel Glover, was found guilty of manslaughter in the first degree last month for the death of John Jolly, a 55-year-old, homeless man who he stabbed twice in the chest with a steak knife in August 2017.
Prosecutors argued that Glover stabbed Jolly after he became angry because he thought Jolly was gay and was hitting on him. Glover denied that the stabbing had anything to do with Jolly’s sexual preference, saying he felt intimidated and feared for his safety after Jolly asked him “what’s up?” in a threatening manner.
After stabbing Jolly, Glover went to his workplace nearby, changed his clothes and washed the knife, Prosecutor said. After approximately 15 minutes, Glover left, boarded the subway, and disposed of the knife in a sewer near a Bronx subway station.
The following day, NYPD officers recovered the knife and arrested him at his home in the Bronx.
“The defendant confessed to pulling out a kitchen knife and repeatedly thrusting it into the body of a stranger on the street, killing him,” Assistant District Attorney Mark Dahl said during the trial. “Was there anything that would prevent him from simply running away from Mr. Jolly? No.”
Glover was sentenced to16 years in state prison with five years of post-release supervision.
Glover’s lawyer said he would appeal the conviction.
