A$AP Rocky’s assault trial kicked off with opening statements — and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne’s son appeared in court to testify.
Thomas “Tommy” Zizzo Jr. — who serves as a sergeant for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) — attended Rocky’s trial in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, Jan. 24, when he was called to the stand as one of the officers who responded to the alleged 2021 shooting of A$AP Relli.
Rocky — whose real name is Rakim Mayers — is being accused of firing a semiautomatic handgun at Relli in November 2021.
Rocky, 36, previously turned down a plea deal from prosecutors on Tuesday, Jan. 21, opting for a jury trial instead of pleading guilty to one of two felony charges for assault with a semiautomatic firearm. He faces up to 24 years in prison if found guilty.
Following opening statements on Jan. 24, Jayne’s son Zizzo took the stand and recalled being notified that “a possible shooting had occurred” on the November 2021 date, before his body cam footage was played in its entirety.
Zizzo testified that he “did not search every inch of that street,” before confirming he may have missed shell casings and ultimately found no signs of a shooting.
Jayne, 53, refrains from posting about her son. In 2020, she shared on Andy Cohen’s SiriusXM show that Zizzo “didn’t choose this life,” referring to her entertainment career in the public eye.
“I chose this life — and we try and protect him. I don’t care if he’s an adult and he carries a gun and a badge. At the end of the day, he’s still my boy,” she said at the time. “He’s a very fine young man, and I’m super proud.”
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The plea deal that Rocky — who shares two sons, RZA, 2, and Riot Rose, 17 months, with Rihanna — turned down would have had him serving 180 days in jail and receiving a seven-year suspended sentence with three years on probation.
In an opening statement at Rocky’s trial, Deputy District Attorney Paul B. Przelomiec recounted the events leading up to the altercation involving Relli (real name Terell Ephron), claiming Relli believed he would show up that night to “argue” and it would “repair” his relationship with Rocky.
“This is not a complicated case,” Przelomiec said. “The defense will turn in an alternative explanation to what happened that night… we ask that you do not leave your common sense at the door.”
Rocky’s lawyer Joe Tacopina, however, claimed that Relli was a “fraud” leveraging a “fabricated story to extract money from Rocky.” Tacopina also claimed that a gun Rocky could be seen holding in surveillance footage — shown to the jury on Jan. 24 — was “nothing more than a prop gun,” which he said the rapper had on him to scare off “potential attackers” as advised by security.
“For Relli, it was never about justice… it’s about a man seeking a profit from a fabricated narrative,” Tacopina said. “Rocky has nothing to hide here.”
At another point during the hearing, the prosecution said it submitted new evidence the previous night. Relli testified at a previous hearing that he returned to the scene and retrieved two 9mm shell casings which, according to the prosecution team, a new examination proved exhibited characteristics of a “Glock model 40 and 43.” Rocky’s lawyer, Tacopina, argued that the evidence “changes the complexity of this case” and was “unfair to him.”
The case will resume on Tuesday, Jan. 28, to give the defense extra time to prepare, per Judge Mark S. Arnold.
The trial was pushed back from its original November 2024 date due to a scheduling conflict. The move followed Rocky’s January 2024 non-guilty plea after a judge determined there was enough evidence to stand trial.
Relli — a former member of hip-hop collective A$AP Mob — filed a civil suit for assault, battery and emotional distress against Rocky on Aug. 10, 2022. The rapper has denied all claims. On April 20, 2022, Rocky was arrested at Los Angeles International and released on bail the same day.
Tacopina told reporters that, following his arraignment last January, Rocky was “cool as a cucumber” ahead of trial and eager to get the trial “over with so he can start enjoying his family.”
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