UPDATE: Rapper Dolla Shooting Story: More Holes Than Swiss Cheese

Man charged in Atlanta rapper’s death claims self-defense

Snellville man could get life in prison

By CHRISTIAN BOONE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, May 20, 2009


The alleged shooter of Atlanta rapper Dolla was formally charged with murder Wednesday in Los Angeles, though his lawyer said the Snellville music promoter was acting in self-defense.
Aubrey Louis Berry, 23, also faces felony assault charges for shooting at the rapper’s cousin, Wilbert Robinson, and Sidiq Abawi, a friend and recording partner. Both men escaped the gunfire that killed Dolla, born Roderick Anthony Burton II.
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Spencer Weiner/Los Angeles Times
Aubrey Louis Berry appears in court, May 20, 2009 in Los Angeles.


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Frazer Harrison/Getty Images



Berry, who was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport carrying a loaded 9mm handgun, faces life in prison if convicted.
Investigators are still trying to determine a motive, one that might trace back to Atlanta. Robert “Bull” Shaw, manager of Platinum 21 Adult Entertainment, said Dolla was involved in an altercation at the strip club roughly two weeks ago.

“It was over before it started,” said Shaw, who doesn’t know Berry. “No one seems to know who [Berry] is.”
Berry’s attorney, Howard R. Price, told reporters in Los Angeles that it was a coincidence that the two men flew to the same city and ate at the same restaurant (P.F. Chang’s China Bistro) on the same date and time.

Price accused Burton and his entourage of being affiliated with the Crips street gang.
Burton’s stepfather, George Viera, said Dolla was merely a character — not a real-life thug.
“To us he was just Roddy,” said Viera, married to Dolla’s mother, Dawnee Robinson Viera, for three years. “When he was home, you couldn’t pry him away. Loved to play with his nieces and nephews, loved to play on the Wii.”


The rapper’s family, including sisters Divinity Burton, 22, and Sadenicole Burton, 20, gathered at the Viera’s southwest Atlanta home Tuesday to plan Dolla’s funeral, scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at Murray Brothers Funeral Home. A memorial service, also at Murray Brothers, will be held at 6 p.m., Friday, Viera said.
They learned of Burton’s shooting from his longtime girlfriend, Crystal Jackson, a Los Angeles native and student at Clark Atlanta University. Dolla was planning a birthday party for Jackson, whom he had dated for at least three years, Viera said.
“They [Dolla, Abawi and Robinson] had just come out of P.F. Chang’s,” Viera said. “They heard gunfire and started running.”


Burton was shot in the back, his stepfather said: “The bullet pierced his heart.”
He was nearing completion of his first album, “Another Day, Another Dolla’,” Viera said, but had future plans that might surprise his fans.
“He wanted to go to theology school,” he said. “He was very interested in religion. People think rapper, they think hard, but he wasn’t that way.”
But according to a bio on his official MySpace page. Dolla was no stranger to the streets.


He sold drugs when he was just 10 years old to support his family. When he was five, Dolla writes, he witnessed his father’s suicide.
He addressed his father’s death and his own mortality in one of his songs, “Rainy Nights”: “Papa died at 25 so he must have been great, they say the good die young, I guess I’m on my way.”




Sound like lil shawty might have trusted /crossed up the WRONG bitch...

Too many coincidences for me...

Murder charge filed in rapper's killing
By ANTHONY McCARTNEY
AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES — A lawyer for the man accused of killing Dolla acknowledged that his client pulled the trigger Wednesday, but said he did it in self-defense.

Prosecutors charged Aubrey Louis Berry, 23, with murder and a pair of assault charges in connection with Monday's shooting in a valet area at an upscale mall.

Berry made his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon and his bail was raised to $5 million. He postponed entering a plea until a Friday court hearing.

Berry's attorney, Howard R. Price, said his client was acting in self-defense when he killed Dolla, 21, and fired at two other people.

Price said Berry feared for his life after he and Dolla, whose real name is Roderick Anthony Burton II, had an altercation at an Atlanta nightclub earlier this month.

Dolla, an Atlanta-based rapper and a protege of Akon, recently released two singles with his mentor: "Like This" and "She So Fine."

Price said it was a coincidence that the two men ended up in the same city (Los Angeles), the same restaurant (P.F. Chang's China Bistro) on the same day and at the same time. He said Burton, who was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after the killing with a loaded 9mm handgun and a plane ticket, was trying to leave the city because he feared for his safety.

Price accused Burton and his entourage of being affiliated with the Crips gang and said that is one of the reasons Berry feared for his life. He said Berry told him that Burton threatened him in the restroom and followed him to the valet area and that's why he opened fire.

Price said Berry did not file a police report after the altercation in Atlanta earlier this because "he knew who he was dealing with."

Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, said the office would not comment on the evidence, but that details presented by Los Angeles police detectives were sufficient to support the murder and assault charges.

"As far as arguing the merits of the case, we prefer to do that in the courtroom and not on the sidewalk," Gibbons said.

Police have not discussed a motive for the killing.

Price said Berry is not a flight risk and plans to argue that during Friday's hearing.

He said videotape shot at the restaurant will corroborate Berry's story, but that there is no video of the actual shooting.

He said Berry, a music promoter from Atlanta, was at the restaurant on Monday for a business meeting.

Burton was in Los Angeles to work on a studio album.

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May 20, 2009 - 8:10 p.m.

More "holes"...