Man convicted for killing Nicki Minaj’s tour manager

A man has been found guilty of murdering Nicki Minaj’s tour manager in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania back in 2015.

On Friday (28Feb20), Khaliyfa Neely was convicted of third-degree murder, aggravated assault, simple assault, and possession of an instrument of crime relating to the fatal stabbing of De’Von Andre Pickett.

The victim’s friend, Eric Reese, was also injured in the incident, which occurred following a fight outside a bar with Neely and co-defendant Pierce Boykin, who had initially been charged with Pickett’s slaying.

The guilty verdict was delivered following a nine-day trial in the city’s Common Pleas Court.

The 38 year old, who has been behind bars since his 2017 arrest, now faces decades in prison when he is sentenced on 24 April (20).

Neely had previously been tried on the same charges last year (19), but the case ended in a mistrial after members of a different jury failed to reach a unanimous decision on any of the counts.

Boykin received 23 months in jail in 2016 after pleading guilty to aggravated assault for his role in the stabbings.

Pickett and Reese, from New York, had been in Philadelphia for concert rehearsals ahead of Minaj’s European tour.

At the time of the tragedy, the Barbie Dreams rapper took to Instagram to pay tribute to Pickett, branding the attack “another senseless act of violence that took the life of a great guy”.

She has yet to comment on Neely’s conviction. Punch