(AllHipHop News) The complicated story surrounding the killing of 19-year-old rapper Melvin “Lil Phat” Vernell III has included reports of a former college basketball star’s involvement, hitmen for hire, and a Russian gangster-turned-FBI informant. The trial for some of those accused of his murder has finally begun, and the victim’s girlfriend took the stand to testify for the prosecution.
[ALSO READ: More Details Emerge About Alleged Conspirators In Rapper Lil Phat’s Murder]
Alnese Frazier testified in court about her relationship with Phat. The 24-year-old mother of two told the jury about how she first met her fiancée and his career as a rapper.
Four of the five men prosecutors have connected to Phat’s murder are currently on trial – alleged Bang Get Money Blood gang leader Gary “Eldorado Red” Bradford, former San Francisco State University point guard Decensae “Griz” White, and suspected hired guns Maurice Dewayne Conner and Deandre Washington.
[ALSO READ: Bay Area Basketball Star Arrested For The Murder Of Lil Phat]
A fifth man, Mani Chulpayev, will be tried separately. Chulpayev is accused of aiding in the murder plot against Phat. The luxury car rental service owner used to work with the Russian mafia, but he later became an informant for the FBI.
According to authorities, the other four defendants conspired to kill Phat over stolen marijuana. Bradford and White allegedly paid Conner and Washington $10,000 to shoot Phat outside Atlanta’s Northside Hospital in June 2012. Frazier was inside the hospital giving birth to the couple’s second child.
[ALSO READ: Ex-Mobster Accused Of Killing Lil Phat Says He Was Working For The Feds]’
Watch Alnese Frazier’s testimony and the prosecution’s opening statement below via Hip Hop Enquirer.