Norfolk man guilty in 'battle rap' that escalated to murder

NORFOLK

Two young, hopeful rappers, Craig Mounger and William Bonney Jr., started a verbal duel one night in the front yard of a Denby Park home.

Urged on by a crowd, Mounger, known as "Stress," and Bonney, known as "Trey Pound," swapped barbs in rap and rhyme. The pace quickened and the insults grew darker, witnesses said.

The rhyme turned to shoves. A witness said Mounger drew a gun and Bonney asked, "Are you going to shoot me over a rap?"

The battle ended with Bonney dead.

On Monday, a jury found Mounger, 22, guilty of second-degree murder and use of a firearm while committing a felony in the October 2008 shooting death of Bonney, 24. The panel recommended a 25-year prison sentence.

Witnesses during the three-day trial described a confrontation, known as a "rap battle," that started between two quick-witted rappers but escalated to a shoving match and a single gunshot.

Prosecutor James Entas said Mounger came to the battle armed with a pistol, while Bonney had no weapon "except his tongue."

Defense attorney Kevin Diamonstein said several eye witnesses called by the prosecution had felony criminal histories and could not be trusted. He added that several had sentences pending in Norfolk courts, and one jailhouse informant requested a re-evaluation of his term.

Mounger fled to Puerto Rico after the shooting and was found by federal marshals and extradited eight months later, according to court records.

Witnesses testified that a group gathered on the night of Oct. 13, 2008, at a house in the 7600 block of MacDonald Road rented by Drew Clark.

Clark testified that people were hanging out and smoking pot inside and around the home. Clark and a friend started joking around and rapping, he said. He knew Mounger and Bonney were both "very good" rappers, he testified.

The group encouraged the two men to square off in a rap battle, witnesses said. Friends of both men testified that Mounger and Bonney did not know each other before that night.

Clark said he and several others watched Bonney and Mounger duel in rhymes and trash talk.

"It was just freestyle," he said, "going back and forth."

Antonio Fenner, Bonney's friend, testified that when the freestyle rap became more aggressive, he tried to bring Bonney inside to calm down.

Bonney spat out an insult against a gang and it enraged Mounger, witnesses said. At least two witnesses said they also heard Bonney call Mounger "short."

Mounger stood 5 feet 5 inches tall and Bonney stood a few inches taller, according to court records. The two started wrestling in the front yard. At some point, a gun went off and a bullet struck Bonney once in the right side, according to testimony.

When police arrived, Mounger was gone.

Clark testified that he initially told police that a tall, light-skinned black man shot Bonney. Clark, who has been convicted of two felonies, later changed his story.

Marlow Malone, an inmate briefly assigned to a cell across from Mounger, said Mounger described how, after the shooting, he shaved his dreadlocks, pretended to be a young boy and flew to Puerto Rico.

Under cross examination, Malone said he hoped his testimony would convince a judge to reduce his prison sentence for drug possession.

Bonney's family knew him as "little Bill" or just plain Bill, they said. William Bonney Sr. said his son spent two years in the Army, served in Iraq and returned to take classes at Old Dominion University. He also worked for the city of Norfolk.

Bonney Sr. knew little of his son's rap aspirations until one day when he slid a CD into the radio of his father's truck. "Wow," he told his son, "that's great."

Mounger is scheduled to be sentenced in September.

Louis Hansen, (757) 446-2341, louis.hansen@pilotonline.com