A judge in California has sentenced Lul G, a 24-year-old rapper whose real name is George Harris, to 21 years in state prison for shooting a man, Rashied Flowers, to death four years ago. Harris pleased no contest to the charges on March 2, according to East Bay Times.
Harris’ plea deal helped him avoid a jury trial for first-degree murder, the Times reports, which could have carried a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. He may have faced other charges, too, since he was previously convicted as a felon and admitted to using a firearm in the shooting.
“Ms. [Denisse] Tanasa and I feel honored to have represented Mr. Harris through this ordeal as well as fortunate to have secured this plea deal on his behalf,” Maximino A. Fuentes, who represented Harris alongside Tanasa, tells Rolling Stone. “The incidents that led us here unfortunately cannot be changed, but we are grateful an outcome was achieved where Mr. Harris will eventually regain his liberty and hopefully continue to share his gift and talents with the world. We also want to extend our appreciation to his family, his supporters, our colleagues and everyone who contributed to the preparation of his defense and helped him secure an outcome that eliminated the risk of a life sentence.”
Harris shot Flowers on July 24, 2019, in Vallejo, California, 50 miles northeast of San Francisco; he was arrested in Clark County, Nevada, on Sept. 21 of that year. Flowers was a friend of Harris’ rap group, SOB x RBE, according to KQED. Rolling Stone reported that at the time of his arrest, Harris was being held at Solano County’s Stanton Correctional Facility.
Once a member of the rap group SOB x RBE, Harris rose to prominence with songs like “Anti” and “Always.” He also took part in SOB x RBE’s collaboration with Kendrick Lamar, “Paramedic!” which appeared on the Black Panther soundtrack. Independent of the group, Harris reportedly landed a record deal with Def Jam. At the time of his arrest, a rep for the group told Rolling Stone that Harris was no longer a member. Def Jam did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment regarding the sentencing.
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Harris was on probation at the time of the shooting. As a 17-year-old, he’d faced armed robbery and gun charges. “They’ve been making it difficult,” Lul G said in a Fader cover story. “Like, it’ll be big opportunity that none of us will probably ever see again in our lives, and they’ll just tell me, ‘No.’ Straight up. It’s like, basically, y’all want me to lose my career, so I have nothing, so I’m forced to do stuff that’ll have me stuck in this system.’”
This article was updated on 5/25/23 at 3:29 p.m. to include Maximino Fuentes’ statement.
