HIP-HOP Troy Ave Released From Jail on $500,000 Bond

Troy Ave, who has been in police custody since the day after the May 25 shooting at Irving Plaza that left one man dead and three others, including Troy, injured, was released on $500,000 bond Monday morning (July 11). Troy, real name Roland Collins, has been indicted on attempted murder and criminal weapons possession charges and has been held without bail until Monday's hearing.

According to the New York Daily News, the bond was secured against Troy's mother's home in Brooklyn and terms of his release demand he wear an ankle monitor, remain within New York City and stay away from bars, venues, concert halls and other performance spaces while the investigation continues.

Troy was arrested May 26 after the NYPD released an 11-second security camera video showing a man police identified as the rapper emerge from a backstage room at Manhattan's Irving Plaza to a balcony, blood on his leg, and fire a gun in the direction of people fleeing. Police later found a gun that matched the ballistics taken from the scene in a "secret compartment" in Troy's car, which had driven him to NYU Langone Hospital following the shooting.

But authorities have said that the incident began earlier in the venue's green room, where a fight broke out that left Troy and two others injured and Ronald "Banga" McPhatter, Troy's longtime friend and bodyguard, dead. Currently, police are investigating the incidents on the balcony and in the green room separately, and Troy has not been charged with murder; the latter case is still under investigation. His attorneys have said repeatedly that both Troy and McPhatter were victims in the situation, and that McPhatter died a hero protecting his friend. Authorities have not ruled out the possibility of a second shooter, though they believe only one gun was involved and no other arrests have been made.

In a mixtape called Free Troy Ave, recorded largely before the incident but released June 6, after his arrest, Troy recounted his own version of what happened in the green room that night in a phone recording included on the tape's introduction. "P---y n---a tried to assassinate me/ I took the gun from him and turned the tables 'round like a G," he raps, echoing a sequence of events that his lawyers have contended.

"What is clear is that the investigation from the outset has been hampered by the defendant, who not only fired and removed the weapon from the crime scene, he refused to help in any way [to identify] who killed McPhatter," Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass told the court, according to the Daily News. Steinglass also said that Troy has not been cleared as a murder suspect as of yet.

"We feel that we have a case to present that's ultimately going to exonerate him and indicate that his actions were justified," Troy's attorney John Stella, who is representing the rapper alongside attorney Scott Leemon, said after the hearing. His attorneys also said that the conditions of the bail package mean the rapper's career is effectively on hold, forcing him to cancel previously scheduled shows.

Troy, in court in a wheelchair due to the gunshot wounds he suffered during the altercation, was helped out to his car by his manager and a family member following the court ruling. The next hearing in the case, during which defense motions are due, is July 14; the prosecution then has until Aug. 4 to respond.

Reps for the rapper did not respond to requests for comment as of press time.