MIAMI (Court TV) — A Florida rapper is charged with murder after shooting a man in the street; she doesn’t deny pulling the trigger, but says she was acting to save her own life when she opened fire.
Kevhani Hicks (Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation)
Kevhani Hicks, 28, also known as rapper “Key Vani,” has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Omar “Demetrie” Harris.
Hicks had arranged to hand out flyers at a networking event with her manager, Nathan Smith, on Oct. 9, 2023. At the last minute before heading out for the evening, Smith called Hicks to tell her that his friend, Harris, would be joining them. Before that night, Hicks and Harris had never met.
Hicks’ defense said that things were immediately tense between the two after Harris demanded that Hicks sit in the back seat of the car when they picked him up. The group drove 25 minutes to a Red Rooster, where they planned to hand out Hicks’ flyers.
Before going inside the restaurant, Hicks, Smith and Harris left their belongings in the trunk of Smith’s white Lexus. “Because Ms. Hicks strictly adhered to standard firearm safety protocol regarding alcohol-serving establishments, she placed her purse — which contained her lawfully concealed firearm — inside the trunk and carried only her promotional flyers into the venue.”
Prosecutors said in court documents that neither Smith nor Harris was armed, and that neither had any idea that Hicks had a gun in her purse.
Tensions between Hicks and Harris rose inside the restaurant, her defense attorneys said. “The environment inside the vehicle was domineered with Harris’ behavior. Harris made aggressive, derogatory remarks about Smith’s music, calling it ‘trash,’ and refused to allow Ms. Hicks to play her music, asserting that only his music would be played.” When the trio left and returned to the car, the hostility continued.
Smith drove to their next planned location in Wynwood. Surveillance video shows Hicks getting out of the car and walking to the back of the white Lexus. As she tried to get into the trunk, Smith got out of the driver’s seat, and the two began to argue. Then, Harris got out of the vehicle and joined the altercation.
Prosecutors say that Hicks tried to push Smith, prompting both men to pin her to the ground and restrain her as she continued to try to kick them. In Hicks’ version, both men attacked her out of nowhere, body-slammed her and trapped her on the ground.
Surveillance video shows the fight breaking up, and both parties separating. Hicks’ defense said that “as she was walking away, with her back faced to both Harris and Smith, Harris screamed explicit promises of death directly behind her, stating that ‘he kills little b— like her’ and that she ‘would die with one hit.'” Hicks told officers that Harris screamed at her, “Keep talking that s—, I’ll kill you with one shot.”
“Hearing these explicit promises of imminent death while just enduring physical and mental trauma from the attack, Ms. Hicks genuinely believed she was about to be executed,” the defense said. “Acting strictly in self-defense, Ms. Hicks reached into her purse, retrieved her handgun, and fired an initial shot. Upon the first shot, Harris turned toward her, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a black object. Believing Harris was producing a weapon, Ms. Hicks continued firing, single controlled shots without emptying her weapon until she was sure that the threat was neutralized.”
Prosecutors said in a motion opposing the defense’s self-defense argument that both the defendant and victim were walking away in opposite directions when she opened fire.
“After taking about ten steps up the sidewalk, the Defendant reached down into her purse, pulled out her gun, turned around, and started shooting at the victim. The victim immediately ran away,” prosecutors said. “The defendant chased the victim, continuing to shoot at him. As the victim fled, he tripped and fell but continued to crawl away from the defendant as she chased him. Seizing on this helplessness, the Defendant stepped into a position where she had the clearest shot, fired several more times, then turned to flee.”
Surveillance video shows Kevhani Hicks behind a car. (WTVJ)
When Hicks pulled the gun, Smith allegedly got back into the Lexus and drove it at the defendant. In a deposition, Smith allegedly admitted that he “accelerated his white Lexus directly toward her and hit her once with his car and then used the car to back over her body a second time.”
When police arrived at the scene, they saw both Harris and Hicks with severe injuries; both were taken to hospitals, where Harris died from the three gunshot wounds he suffered.
A hearing on the defense motion to dismiss the case based on Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, initially scheduled for Aug. 31, was postponed until Sept. 16 because prosecutors said they were not ready.
Prosecutors have filed a motion asking Judge Jean Lody for permission to record the hearing for Hicks’ trial. “At said evidentiary hearing, the Defendant must testify to establish that she had a reasonable fear of the victim and that her use of deadly force was acceptable,” prosecutors wrote, saying they want to be able to show that testimony to the future jury.
