A$AP Rocky found not guilty in gun assault trial

LOS ANGELES (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Rapper A$AP Rocky was found not guilty in his gun assault trial Tuesday.

The jury of seven women and five me reached a unanimous decision after deliberating for three hours following a three-week trial.

The rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was charged with two felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm in connection to a 2021 shooting involving his onetime friend.

Mayers could have faced up to 24 years in prison, but prosecutors only sought eight years.

The rapper pleaded not guilty and decided not to take the stand during the three-week trial. He also turned down a pre-trial plea deal that would have led to 180 days in jail.

Mayers' attorney Joe Tacopina spoke to the media following the verdict:

"I would have been really really hurting if this didn't go the right way, but you know thank God that jury...we had a great jury.

I'm just happy the jury came to the right conclusion, swiftly, swiftly.

So, he was really calm, cool, collected, at the end obviously when that jury started piling in and you know you can't ready anyone's faces, you know there was a tension that he said, 'I can't breathe,' and I said 'Neither can I, so that makes two of us.'

You know what's next is they're going to move on I mean they have a lot of great things professionally to do you know Rocky's really at the height of his career, he's worked with Gucci, he's worked with Puma, he's got a lot of things going, obviously Rihanna is on top of the world."