BC man who rapped about shooting friend gets 10 years jail

A BC man, who posted a video online saying he was going to shoot his friend, and then having shot him rapped about it, has been sentenced to 10 years in jail.

According to a recently published Nov. 6 BC Supreme Court decision, Richard Charles Reed spoke directly to the camera and recorded a message saying that in two days’ time he would be “committing an offence” against one-time friend Spence Griffith.

The then 20-year-old spoke to the camera saying that Griffith had been like a brother to him, but he’d been betrayed when Griffith got involved with his ex-girlfriend.

The two had fought about it, and Reed had tried to blow up his car.

Reed told his one-time friend that if he continued seeing his ex-girlfriend, he would kill him.

The decision says that in December 2020, Reed lured Griffith to an Elementary school yard in Richmond and shot him several times. Amazingly, only one bullet hit Griffith’s hand.

He later filmed himself rapping about the shooting.

The video is referred to as the “Confession recording.”

“In the Confession recording, Mr. Reed described how he ‘as a real man’ went to shoot Mr. Griffith but his gun jammed, and he shot ‘Spence’ once in the hand and Spence ran away,” the decision reads.

He later attempted to recruit two other people to “finish the job.”

Following Reed’s arrest, police found eight weapons in the 27-year-old’s home, one of which he used to shoot his friend.

Justice Miriam Maisonville sentenced Reed to 10 years in jail, noting he was only 20 years old when it happened.

The sentence won’t make any difference, as Reed is currently serving 25 years for a first-degree murder committed three months before he shot his friend.

The Justice noted Reed will be 51 years of age when he is finally released on his various sentences.