Jury convicts man of murder in rapper’s shooting death

One of three men arrested in connection with a Las Vegas-area rapper’s shooting was found guilty of first-degree murder Thursday.

Along with murder, a jury convicted Angell Fernandez, 27, of attempted murder with a deadly weapon, battery with a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm, conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery with a deadly weapon, burglary while in possession of a firearm and two counts of attempted robbery with a deadly weapon.

Investigators tied Fernandez and two other men to the killing of 40-year-old Ronnie Cravens Jr., a rapper known as Succeed Phlyguy, during a home invasion in Henderson on Oct. 12, 2019. Two masked men, including Fernandez, broke into the home where Cravens lived with roommates, and a gunfight broke out.

Fernandez was linked to a gun that had been shot 12 times during the home invasion, prosecutors said. One roommate was shot in the leg, and Cravens died on his living room floor from gunshot wounds, according to the Clark County coroner’s office.

According to arresting documents, Fernandez was linked to the killing after investigators began looking into pizzas that were sent to Cravens’ home in the days before the shooting. The orders came from a phone number registered to Fernandez, and video surveillance in the neighborhood showed that during both deliveries, the same car used during the shooting had been parked in the neighborhood “conducting surveillance on Ronnie’s house.”

Police have said Cravens was also robbed of jewelry. Investigators identified one of the suspects, 30-year-old Michael Mosley, after investigators said he attempted to pawn some of the jewelry in San Francisco days after the shooting.

Mosley pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, robbery with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery. Last month, District Judge Jacqueline Bluth sentenced him to between 12 and 30 years in prison for his role in the killing.

A third suspect in the case, 40-year-old Wahid Briley, faces charges of murder with a deadly weapon, attempted murder with a deadly weapon, burglary while in possession of a firearm, battery with a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm, conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of attempted robbery with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

Briley is scheduled to go to trial in January.

Dan Winder, one of Fernandez’s defense attorneys, said Thursday that his client intended to appeal the conviction. He declined to comment further on the case.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.