ATLANTA (AP) — An Atlanta rapper was shot dead in a car outside a hospital where his fiancee was due to give birth in what prosecutors say was an elaborate murder-for-hire plot involving gang members, a former Russian mobster and a basketball star.
Melvin Vernell III — known as Lil Phat — was killed after he stole 10 pounds of marijuana, prosecutors said. They've indicted five people in the plot, including another rapper they say belongs to an Alabama-based gang, a former Russian mafia member turned informant and a college basketball standout from California.