x

Music

Rapper Mystikal Again Accused of Rape; Held without Bond

Rapper Mystikal was jailed in Louisiana on Monday, accused of rape more than a year after prosecutors dropped charges that had kept him jailed for 18 months in another part of the state.

Michael “Mystikal” Tyler was arrested on charges including rape and domestic abuse battery, Sheriff Bobby Webre of Ascension Parish, just outside Baton Rouge, said in a Facebook post Monday.

The 51-year-old hip-hop legend is being held without bond on 10 charges, according to the sheriff’s office inmate lookup.

Attorney Joel Pearce, of Shreveport, who represented the rapper in the earlier case, said he believes bond will be discussed at a hearing Tuesday in Ascension Parish.

“I’m expecting it to be a big bond,” he said.

Pearce said he has not been retained for Tyler’s current case but they are supposed to meet Wednesday or Thursday to discuss the case. He said he will make a statement then.

FILE – Rapper Mystikal poses for a portrait in Baton Rouge, La., Jan. 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Rusty Costanza, File)

Pearce represented the rapper on charges brought in 2017 accusing him of a sexual assault at a Shreveport casino in 2016. Prosecutors dropped those rape and kidnapping charges in December 2020 after new evidence was presented to a grand jury and it did not bring a new indictment.

Shreveport is more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) northwest of Ascension Parish.

Webre said deputies were called to a hospital just before midnight Sunday about a sexual assault and interviewed the victim, who had minor injuries.

“Through further investigation, Michael ‘Mystikal’ Tyler was identified as a suspect,” the statement said.

The new charges include first-degree rape, simple robbery, false imprisonment, simple criminal damage to property, and drug charges including possession of amphetamines. Conviction for first-degree rape carries at least a life sentence — the prosecutor can chose whether to ask for the death penalty.

Tyler pleaded guilty in 2003 to sexual battery and served six years in prison.

In April 2021, he told The Associated Press that his past put him in a “horrible fraternity,” but he was ready to move on.

Mystikal’s 2000 hit, “Shake (it Fast)” peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. His 2000 album “Let’s Get Ready” went multiplatinum.

 

RELATED

LONDON (AP) — It’s springtime in Europe — time for the annual blossoming of spectacle and sound known as the Eurovision Song Contest.

Top Stories

Columnists

A pregnant woman was driving in the HOV lane near Dallas.

General News

NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.

Video

A Palestinian Baby in Gaza is Born an Orphan in an Urgent Cesarean Section after an Israeli Strike

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Sabreen Jouda came into the world seconds after her mother left it.

SEATTLE  — A former Washington state police officer wanted after killing two people, including his ex-wife, was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound following a chase in Oregon, authorities said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.

AUSTIN - Tesla’s first-quarter net income plummeted 55%, but its stock price surged in after-hours trading Tuesday as the company said it would accelerate production of new, more affordable vehicles.

Enter your email address to subscribe

Provide your email address to subscribe. For e.g. [email protected]

You may unsubscribe at any time using the link in our newsletter.