A rising star in the Toronto rap scene, who was arrested in January, has pleaded guilty to murder.
The rapper who goes by the name Yung Lava entered the plea yesterday, Wednesday, June 23. He was charged after authorities found 67 guns and ammunition in his vehicle in Minnesota at the beginning of the year, according to the National Post.
According to reports, the 29-year-old was pulled over by a Minnesota State Trooper after he was noticed speeding along in a rented pickup truck. Yung Lava, whose real name is Dayne Adrian Sitladeen, was allegedly caught doing between 95mph and 100mph in a 75mph zone on Interstate 94. Added to that, he was already on Toronto’s Most Wanted list at the time. He had been identified by police as a fugitive in 2019 for the shooting and killing of Blain Grindley in Toronto’s Rexdale neighborhood.
He was in the company of a man by the name of Muzamil Aden Addow, who was the driver of the vehicle. Both men were suspected of traveling to the U.S. illegally. Addow also had a rap sheet as he was suspected of being one of four men who kidnapped a wealthy Chinese student north of Toronto in 2019.
Prior to yesterday, both men pleaded not guilty. This was mostly based on their lawyers arguing that the men suffered various violations of their constitutional rights while being arrested. They also filed a motion to dismiss the charges. One of the motions was indeed thrown out, and this is what seemed to have changed Yung Lava’s plea to guilty. He also admitted to having the guns and being in the US illegally.
“I’m going to find you mentally competent,” Judge Nancy Brasel said regarding his plea agreement before adding: “You’ve asked good questions here today. I accept your plea and find you guilty as charged.”
He now faces up to 10 years in prison and a possible $250,000 fine. According to established sentencing guidelines by prosecutors, he is eligible to serve 70 to 87 months behind bars, while his defense argues that he should serve 46 to 57 months.
The aspiring rapper released an album called Hood Politician in May and has some popular tracks on YouTube like “Conversation,” which has over 1.3 million views. He once appeared in a documentary alongside Drake where he denounced Toronto gun violence.
