Kidd Creole Is Found Guilty Of Fatally Stabbing A Man

On Sunday night (April 3), Grandmaster Flash and Grandmaster Melle Mel were filmed sitting together at the 2022 Grammy Awards—just two years after they received a Lifetime Achievement Award. Days later, another Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five member is in the news surrounding a much more severe manner.

Nathaniel Glover, better known as Kidd Kreole, has been on trial for the 2017 fatal stabbing of John Jolly. This week, Kidd Creole—who is also Melle Mel’s brother—was found guilty of manslaughter for that crime, which took place on a Midtown Manhattan sidewalk nearly five years ago. Glover and Jolly allegedly got into an argument on East 43rd Street while the pioneering MC and Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductee was on the way to work as an overnight copy operator. That altercation left Jolly, who was reportedly homeless, dead. The New York Daily News reported that Jolly had legal problems in the past and claimed sources alleged he was drunk at the time of the incident. The Source published a 2021 article that alleged that John Jolly had been arrested 16 times, three of which were violent. One conviction was allegedly for rape.

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According to The New York Times, the jury deliberated for about three hours before deciding. The conviction dodges second-degree murder charges for which Kidd Creole was acquitted. However, the 61-year-old Bronx, New York native could face up to 25 years behind bars. Since his 2017 arrest, he has been awaiting trial in New York’s controversial Rikers Island. Glover has long claimed the attack was self-defense, and Hip-Hop peers, including LL Cool J and Fat Joe, have reportedly helped provide finances for Glover’s legal aid.

Based on the Times’ report from the prosecution and surveillance video, Glover allegedly passed Jolly on the street, and the two exchanged words. Glover turned, approached the other man, and faced each other before Glover allegedly stabbed Jolly twice in the torso with a steak knife.

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Jolly was found on the ground by a group of tourists and rushed to nearby Bellevue Hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds. Glover allegedly traveled two blocks to his place of employment. Prosecutors say that there, Glover cleaned his weapon and changed clothes. Per reports, he later discarded the knife at a Bronx subway station. Police found the knife, leading to Glover’s arrest one day later.

“Nathaniel Glover committed a shocking act of violence,” Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, said in a statement reported by The Times. “This conviction makes clear my office will hold people who commit violent crime accountable to the full extent of the law.”

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In 2021, Nathaniel Glover spoke about the incident in a feature published by The Source. “I’m fighting the image that they portrayed me as a person who’s intolerant of people with alternative lifestyles, and that’s not true,” Glover said one year ago. The report writes, “Glover’s account begins as he walks to work, listening to music in his ear pods. He passes John Jolly, who is leaning against a wall, drinking a beer in a paper bag. When Jolly speaks to him, Glover stops and removes his ear pods to hear him. His initial impression is that Jolly is attempting some form of a pick-up. Glover attempts to walk away and Jolly follows, aggressively pressing him a second time at which point Glover smells alcohol on Jolly’s breath, reassesses his initial thought, and is now certain that Jolly’s intention is to harm him. Glover attempts to walk away again and Jolly pursues, trying to grab Glover who ultimately defends himself against an apparent assailant. ‘They basically portray me as the villain when I was the one just walking down the street minding my business…I had no intention when I left my house that night to do anything harmful to anybody, for any reason.'”

That same Source report alleges that after the confrontation between Glover, Jolly returned to drinking his beer. It adds that others pass the now-deceased man on the sidewalk without concern—as if to question the gravity of his injury. The report also stated, “Documents indicate after his run-in with Glover, Jolly was found one block over on 44th Street having to be restrained after displaying erratic and combative behavior toward paramedics called to assist him. Medical reports show when admitted to Bellevue hospital, Jolly had a semi-circular laceration to his head; an injury not there when he had his run-in with Glover, indicating some incident afterward. It was further reported that Jolly continued such volatile behavior once admitted to Bellevue and was administered a sedative, after which Jolly’s heart stopped and he expired.”

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Nathaniel Glover is scheduled to be sentenced on May 4.

#BonusBeat: A 2021 What’s The Headline podcast discussing the charges against Kidd Creole (the video is set to start at that part of the discussion; the audio clip starts at 52:40):