NEWARK — An argument over a Nicki Minaj CD tossed into the snow was enough to trigger a barrage of bullets and the death of a Newark teen early last year.
Today the 21-year-old gunman, Ahmad Taylor, was convicted by an Essex County jury of manslaughter and faces up to ten years in prison, said acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray.
Prosecutors had sought a murder conviction, she said.
The victim, Amir McLean, 19, had been arguing with his girlfriend on a Sunday night last January 16 when he tossed a stack of seven music CDs out of the window of the apartment on Riverview Court in the city’s East Ward, said Murray.
Taylor, the woman’s nephew, wanted to listen to the Nicki Minaj album, and ordered McLean to retrieve the recordings, said Murray.
But McLean refused and Taylor pulled out a handgun, shooting him several times, said authorities.
Taylor was released on parole from jail two weeks before the shooting, Murray said.
Prosecutors had sought a conviction on a murder charge, but the jury found Taylor guilty of the lesser offense of passion/provocation manslaughter.
