A lawyer for Hip-Hop star Fabolous has stated that the rapper was not in club Duvet in Manhattan when a childhood friend was stabbed to death Friday morning (November 23).
Reports stated that police wanted to interview Fabolous about the murder of 25-year-old Shamel McKinney, a longtime associate who was stabbed to death by three unidentified assailants inside of the plush nightclub.
According to the NYPD, sources have placed the rapper in the club shortly before McKinney was stabbed to death, as another altercation between two women broke out.
Fabolous’ lawyer Alberto Ebanks, of Ebanks & Sattler LLP., spoke in detail to AllHipHop.com about the incident and stated that his client was no where near the scene of the crime.
“He was not at the club and the police themselves have verified he was not at the club,” Fabolous’ lawyer Alberto Ebanks told AllHipHop.com. “It would not have been a crime even if he was in the club when the altercation occurred, so it’s not like this is an alibi of any sorts. We are not on the defensive because Fabolous has nothing to do with any of this.”
Members of Fabolous’ entourage told reporters that he was at the club earlier in the evening, but that the superstar rapper had left long before the bloody altercation.
McKinney, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, was a member of Fabulous Street Family and bore the group’s logo on a medallion he was sporting the night he was murdered.
Detectives recovered a bloody seven inch folding knife from a nearby dumpster and are currently reviewing surveillance footage for clues as they search for suspects.
“Fabolous was home with his friends,” Ebanks told AllHipHop.com. “Unfortunately, you cannot sell newspapers unless you throw someone’s name in it. It sounds like he is being mentioned simply because he knows someone who died.”
Ebanks also said that Fabolous was mourning the loss of his close friend, who was murdered just days after the pair celebrated the rapper’s 30th birthday, at another New York nightclub, decked out in tuxedos.
“He has spoken to that persons family and offered their condolences,” Ebanks said. “He feels the way anyone would feel in this situation – terrible.”