Troy Ave testified on Monday in Taxstone's murder trial giving his account of the struggle between the two after the 2016 fatal shooting of Troy's bodyguard.
Troy Ave, real name Roland Collins, told the jury his rationale behind fighting back after being shot and wounded backstage at Irving Plaza.
“If it’s fight or flight I’m always going to fight because at that point you could die,” he told the jury. “It looks like if you see people wrestle in high school wrestling — that type of position.”
“When the shot goes off I see the light from the spark and I hear the shot,” he testified. “This is all happening fast. I get up and start fighting Taxstone, trying to take him, grab the gun, and another shot goes off. I put my leg up to kind of block the shot from hitting me in the face or chest.”
Taxstone then reportedly shot him in the legs. “I got up,” Collins said. “I’d rather die fighting. People die from leg shots. I’d rather die fighting than laying on the ground. I got up immediately.”
Amidst the melee, Collins then described noticing his friend and bodyguard Ronald “Banga” McPhatter was laying face down. “I rolled his body over and I’m like, ‘Banga, get up. Come on.’ I’m smacking him, like, ‘C’mon bro. Get up,'” Collins testified. “And his eyes were rolling to the back of his head. His shirt was red so I could tell he got shot.”
Taxstone, whose real name is Daryl Campbell, is currently on trial on murder, attempted murder, assault and weapons possession charges.
Source: Nypost.com
