Up-and-coming New York rapper Lil TJay is expected to be released from jail on a $90,000 bond following his gun possession charges stemming from a recent New York City arrest.
According to NBC4, Lil TJay whose born name is Tione Jayden Merritt, is slated to be back in court on Friday January 20, 2023, and his release from jail is imminent.
Lil TJay was arrested on Monday afternoon January 16, 2023, on second-degree criminal possession of a weapon after police officers pulled him over on his way to shoot a music video with fellow New York rapper Ice Spice for their upcoming “Gangsta Boo” collaboration.
Authorities discovered several loaded handguns in the Cadillac Escalade following a search and arrested the 21-year-old in Fordham Heights. TJay and four others were handcuffed after no one showcased a license to carry any of the weapons found, which were two .380-caliber pistols and two loaded 9mm handguns.
According to a criminal complaint viewed by the New York Post, TJay’s SUV was pulled over because it was idling in a no-standing zone. Footage of the rapper’s arrest quicky emerged on social media.
However, Lil TJay’s lawyer believes the arrest resulted from an illegal search. According to TMZ, attorney Dawn Florio claimed her client’s vehicle was parked legally on the street and the guns police discovered do not belong to him.
Florio added that when officers stopped the vehicle, they did not offer a credible reason as to why they carried out the search. She also believes the NYPD targeted the Bronx rapper after he posted about the video shoot on social media.
The arrest comes months after Lil Tjay suffered multiple gunshot wounds during a shooting in front of a Chipotle in Edgewater, New Jersey, in June of 2022. TJay was rushed into emergency surgery, where he was reported to have been unconscious and breathing through a tube for a few days.
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Luckily, TJay was able to make a full recovery and went on social media last August to say that while things were “tough,” he would come back and be “stronger than ever.”
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