Rapper YFN Lucci (left) made his first court appearance on Thursday, Jan. 14, where he was denied bond.
Lucci appeared via CCTV video from the jail. He wore a black face covering during the court proceeding.
Lucci’s lawyer told the judge that his client had the charges read to him, which include felony murder, aggravated assault, participation in street gang activity, and possession of a firearm in commission of a felony.
Authorities in Atlanta, Georgia, were hunting for Lucci to question him over his alleged involvement in the murder of 28-year-old James Adams (pictured right). Adams was a former member of Lucci’s crew.
Lucci — real name Rayshawn Bennett — was identified as the driver of a white SUV seen by witnesses before the victim was shoved out of the moving vehicle.
His lawyer argued against the aggravated assault charges, saying “[Lucci’s] proximity in a vehicle to someone with a gun is not what establishes aggravated assault.”
However, the judge responded, saying Lucci — being the driver of the SUV — “allowed the occupants of the vehicle to actually get out of the vehicle, firing multiple rounds and driving off with those weapons.”
The judge determined that the circumstances of his involvement warranted aggravated assault charges, and she denied bond for the rapper.
The 29-year-old father-of-2 turned himself in late Wednesday night, Jan. 13, after 2 weeks on the run.
Lucci was booked into the crowded Fulton County Jail on Thursday, just hours after dropping a music video for his new song “Rolled On” on his social media pages.
Two suspects, Ra’von Boyd, 23, and Leroy Pitts, 17, were also arrested following the shootout on December 10, which left another man wounded.
In a frantic 911 call that led to the felony murder warrant for Lucci arrest, a woman describes a man clinging to a moving SUV before he was shoved out of the SUV and left for dead in a roadway.
TMZ obtained audio of the 911 call a woman made in Atlanta last month when she saw a white SUV speeding by “with a man hanging out of the car.” She says she eventually saw the man thrown out of the car onto the street.
The witness told the operator the victim appeared to have suffered a gunshot wound to the head, and the man was “still trying to fight for his life.”
She remained on the scene while waiting for the ambulance, standing near the victim — and said he was “taking his last breath” and he died moments later.
The Atlanta Police Department offered a $5k award for information leading to Lucci’s arrest and indictment.
