By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A MAN accused of murdering Yaphet Newton Jr, a rapper who once rhymed about dreaming he had been shot, was remanded to prison yesterday.
Newton was killed in what police believed may have been a hit gone wrong.
Prosecutors allege George Miller, 23, shot and killed Newton, 22, who performed as ESN Phetty, in Wilson Tract on October 5. Miller is also accused of shooting and injuring Kaiden Evans and Ricardo Joseph with a 9mm pistol in the same incident.
He faces charges of murder and two counts each of attempted murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Miller was not required to enter a plea before acting Chief Magistrate Ancella Evans. He was told his case would proceed to the Supreme Court through a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI) and that he had the right to apply for bail in the higher court.
He was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until service of his VBI on February 25, 2027.
Inspector Crestanea Munroe prosecuted.
Officers were called to Wilson Tract after reports of gunfire around 10.30pm. A group of people had gathered outside a residence when a small Japanese vehicle pulled up, and three gunmen reportedly got out and opened fire. Two men in the group were shot. A 17-year-old was struck in the lower back, and a 20-year-old suffered gunshot injuries to his right buttock.
A third man was also shot. Police identified him as Newton and said he was believed to have been one of the gunmen. He was wearing a mask, a grey hooded jacket, a black shirt and black pants, and had been shot in the upper body. He died at the scene. Videos appearing to show him lying lifeless on the ground later circulated on social media.
His death brought a violent end to a life Newton had spent years documenting through music.
The young father had more than 50 songs on his YouTube channel. He rapped about guns and retaliation, betrayal and police, depression and drugs. He rapped about a childhood that forced him to grow up too quickly, a mother he believed he had disappointed and a young son in whose face he saw his own. Again and again, he returned to the same tension: the street life he described in unflinching detail and his desire to survive it, make money and become something more.
In one song, he described gun violence as a spiritual battle and said he had dreamed about being shot.
In “Dear Mommy”, he told his mother that none of it was her fault.
“You raised a good boy,” he rapped. “It’s just the streets (expletive) me up and leave my heart destroyed.”
His last song, “Sticks and Dollars”, was recorded last December. In it, he apologised to his family.
“It aint had to be this way,” he said. “I guess I just reaping what I sowing.”
Less than a year later, he was dead.
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