Gina Conway, ex-girlfriend of rapper Max B, has begun her testimony for the prosecution in the Harlemite’s murder trial.
Conway testified in Hackensack, New Jersey Superior Court that Max, real name Charly Wingate, masterminded the September 2006 murder of David Taylor in a botched robbery.
According to Conway, the real target was Taylor’s friend, Allan Plowden, who she had begun seeing shortly after splitting with Max.
She explained to jurors that Plowden drove a $120,000 Mercedes Benz and routinely carried around cash in excess of $35,000.
The two became romantically linked, and Plowden testified that he spent lavish sums of money on Conway at high-end department stores.
When she relayed this information to Max, she claimed the rapper became very jealous and promised “he was going to get him.”
Based on Conway’s testimony, the prosecution alleges that Max B began to plot the robbery, and recruited his step-brother Kelvin Leerdam to carry out the crime.
In between sobs, Gina Conway recounted how the robbery was botched from the beginning, as she and accomplice Leerdam got lost on the cab ride to New Jersey for several hours.
A cab driver corroborated the story, stating they stopped at two different Holiday Inn locations, one in Bergen County and one in New York before locating the correct establishment in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Upon arrival, Conway and Leerdam duct-taped Plowden at gunpoint and demanded his money.
Plowden revealed that his funds were in the possession of friend David Taylor, who was staying a few floors down.
Plowden was forced to place a call, and when Taylor arrived he was shot in the head at point blank range, stated Conway.
Plowden freed himself and gave chase, and was able to strike Conway with a punch before both perpetrators escaped in a cab.
Plowden was able to make a positive ID of Conway, who was apprehended several days later and charged with murder.
After giving a 169 page statement and cooperating with authorities, her crime was reduced to armed robbery and manslaughter.
Even with her testimony, she will still serve 18 years for her role in the crime.
When asked about Max B’s reaction to the murder, Conway claimed he expressed regret and promised to support her.
“Charly told me that if I pulled it off, then he would love me forever,” she stated. “Charly said he was sorry for what happened and that he was going to take care of me.”
Next Tuesday (May 26), lawyers for Max B and Kelvin Leerdam will cross-examine Gina Conway.
Both camps have stated that Conway, a stripper at the time, was the one who planned the fatal robbery.
Max B and Leerdam face life sentences if convicted.
