Hurricane Chris‘ trial relating to his second-degree murder charge stemming from a June 2020 incident is officially underway in his home state of Louisiana.
According to KTLA, the trial started Monday (March 6), with jury selection completed the following day and opening statements on Wednesday (March 8).
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The trial date was initially set for January but was later delayed to February 13, then suffered another delay after prosecutors asked for more time to prepare.
The “A Bay Bay” rapper, real name Chris Dooley, was arrested after shooting Danzeria O. Ferris Jr. in June 2020, who Chris accused of allegedly trying to steal his car outside of a convenience store in Shreveport, Louisiana. When officers arrived on the scene, Ferris Jr. was rushed to a local hospital with gunshot wounds in his chest, hip and stomach. He later died at a local hospital and the car in question turned out to be stolen.
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Chris has been out on bond since posting the $500,000 just two days after his arrest. He has maintained his innocence and asserts that his “name will be cleared.”
“Hello world, hello world, hello world,” he said in a video after posting bond. “I’m sure you got the news by now. I was involved in a very unfortunate incident on Friday morning, a very unfortunate incident. I wanna thank everybody who’s been praying for the family of the deceased and everybody who’s been praying for my family.
“After a good, thorough investigation, my name will be cleared,” he continued. “Let God work, watch God work. God bless. Thank you.”
The Shreveport native claims he was acting in self-defense, but investigators determined video footage of the incident doesn’t support that theory. They also learned the vehicle the deceased victim was allegedly attempting to steal was reported stolen out of Texas.
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Hurricane Chris spoke on the pending trial during a 2021 interview during which he admitted the situation was stressful, but was confident he wouldn’t be going to jail.
“It’s a very stressful situation,” he admitted. “It’s hard on me and everybody around me. It’s a lot of emotional stress involved with being wrongfully [accused]… I’ve never had a misdemeanor, I’ve never been charged with nothing. I’m chill, laidback, making music. I ain’t never been in jail for nothing. Everything legal.”
He concluded: “Everything on tape. I’m comfortable with my legal team. That part of it is not on my mind.”
