• Cool C Receives 2nd Stay of Execution

    Philadelphia rapper Cool C was scheduled to be executed today, Jan. 8, but a judge in Pennsylvania decided to grant the artist a stay of execution. This is the second stay Christopher Roney has received after being convicted of killing a female police officer in 1996. His first stay was granted in 2006, Philly station NBC 10 reports. According to the court case, Roney, along with Steady B — real name Warren McGlone — and Mark Canty, robbed a PNC bank in the late 1990s. Officer Lauretha Vaird entered the bank during the robbery and was shot to death. Despite witness reports and surveillance tapes, Roney has maintained his innocence, claiming to have been eating with his mother at the time of the murder. Vaird was the first female officer murdered on duty in Philly. McGlone was sentenced to life in prison for murder in the second degree. He and Canty both fingered Roney as the trigger man in the 1996 ordeal. Roney gained notoriety in the late 1980s as part of the Hilltop Hustlers, which scored an underground hit with "Juice Crew Dis." He released two solo albums, "I Gotta Habit" in 1989 and "Life in the Ghetto" in 1990. Roney linked up with McGlone and Ultimate Eaze in 1991 to form C.E.B. Their only album, "Countin' Endless Bank," produced one charted single with "Get the Point." He also gained praise with "Glamorous Life."

  • Rapper Cool C to Face Execution Tomorrow for Murder

    As decided 19 months ago, golden-age rapper Cool C, is set to be executed tomorrow, Jan. 8. The Philadelphia-based rapper — whose real name is Christopher Roney — was convicted of murder in the first degree for the shooting of Police Officer Lauretha Vaird, which happened in 1996. The shooting occurred during an attempt Cool C made with two other men, including his rapping partner Warren "Smooth B" McGlone, to rob a Philadelphia PNC Bank branch. Roney, who at the time was 26, fired his weapon as soon as Vaird walked through the bank's front doors. The incident marked the first occurrence in the city's history that an officer was killed responding to a call. The rapper has spent the last 18 years in prison and will face execution by way of lethal injection tomorrow. As reported, Cool C was originally scheduled to be executed March 9, 2006, but he was granted a delay by the governor of Pennsylvania at the time.

  • Grand Jury Decision Imminent in NYPD Chokehold Death of Eric Garner

    While the majority of America has been focused on the fallout in Ferguson, Missouri, after Michael Brown's killer Police Officer Darren Wilson was not indicted, another eerily similar case has been starting to grab real attention. In July, Eric Garner was stopped on a Staten Island street and accused of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes by NYPD officers. As they closed in on Garner, he resisted a bit while asking them not to touch him, but eventually Officer Daniel Pantaleo placed Garner in a chokehold while wrestling him to the ground. Garner died on that sidewalk and a New York City grand jury has been deliberating since late September over whether or not Pantaleo should be charged, and it looks like their decision is imminent. This altercation was captured on video and it is absolutely horrific to hear Garner pleading with the officers, telling them flat out, "I can't breathe." Garner had asthma, and it has been determined that the chokehold combined with that and heart issues ultimately lead to his death. Peaceful protests have been occurring quite regularly in Garner's neighborhood, with many calling for criminal charges to be filed against Pantaleo.
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