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Man and woman plea guilty to murder of local rapper
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Published: July 8, 2008
A man and woman pleaded guilty today to second-degree murder today, admitting their part in a plot to rob a popular local rapper and use the money to get the woman's boyfriend out of jail.
Alice Robinson, 29, and Christopher Taylor, 25, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and attempted armed robbery as part of a plea deal with prosecutors in Forsyth Superior Court.
Judge Todd Burke sentenced the two to 11 to 14 years in prison.
Robinson and Taylor also agreed to testify against Ricky Wilborn, who is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Latravis Green.
Prosecutor David Sipprell said Wilborn has been offered a plea deal for second-degree murder and that if Wilborn doesn't take the deal, prosecutors will pursue the first-degree murder charge.
Green was killed on May 11, 2007, at the Budget Inn on Peters Creek Parkway, where he had gone with Robinson after meeting her earlier that night at the Nitty Gritty Soul Cafe on South Main Street, Sipprell said.
The plan was to lure Green to a motel room and then Taylor would rob him, Sipprell said.
Taylor said that Wilborn put him up to the robbery, and Sipprell and the defense attorneys in the case, David Botchin and Jonathan Leonard, all described Wilborn as the mastermind behind the poorly thought-out plan.
Wilborn is related to Green through marriage. Wilborn got the idea to rob Green while he was dating a woman who is the mother to one of Green's 10 children, Sipprell said.
The woman told Wilborn that Green sold drugs and tended to carry large amounts of cash, Sipprell said.
The woman has not been charged, but Sipprell said prosecutors are still deciding whether to bring more charges in the case.
Robinson participated in the plot because her boyfriend had been arrested on a probation violation on May 10. She went to Wilborn to ask for ideas to come up with the money to help post his bond, Sipprell said.
Taylor said he panicked during the robbery and shot Green. In one account, Taylor said Green reached for Taylor's gun, Sipprell said. In another account, Taylor said Green reached into his pockets for what Taylor thought was a gun. No other guns were found.
Taylor admitted that earlier that night he smoked marijuana, took ecstasy and drank vodka.
Green was shot once in the upper left thigh and wandered throughout the motel searching for help before he collapsed in front of the motel's office. Guests called police after hearing his shouts.
Police found Robinson on the day of the murder. She had rented the room in her name.
Leonard, Robinson's attorney, said she had never thought the robbery would lead to a death.
"She can't make right what happened — someone died," he said. "But she's trying to do what she can do to make things right."
Taylor turned himself in to police a few days after the murder and confessed to the crimes.
Green's family said in court that he had his flaws, but he didn't deserve to die.
"Stealing is stealing, stalking is stalking and killing is killing," Green's mother, Enid Fisher, said. "You can't give me my son's life back."
Lametrice Fisher, Green's sister, said the plea deal was unfair. Robinson has a child who still has a chance to see her when she gets out of prison, Fisher said.
"What his (Green's) kids have to do now is go to the graveyard," she said.
Dan Galindo can be reached at 727-7377 or at dgalindo@wsjournal.com.
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Reader Comments
Posted by ( PoohAustin ) on July 11, 2008 at 6:21 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
It is a shame that BIGZ is gone and all these kids have to grow up without him. But they are holding up. The most sorry thing was the plan to rob somebody because of how they dress and what someone thinks you have. The main thing is it was his daughter SWEET 16 and now every year on her birthday it is a memory of finding out your father is dead!!
RIP BIGZ and BLACK!!!
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