Trio Convicted in Murder of Lil' Phat, Atlanta Rapper

A Fulton County jury has convicted three men on charges related to the 2012 shooting death of an Atlanta area rapper, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.

19-year-old Melvin Vernell III, also known as “Lil’ Phat,” was ambushed by three people outside Northside Hospital in Sandy Springs and gunned down on June 7, 2012. Vernell was awaiting the birth of his child when he was shot five times while attempting to enter his car in the hospital parking lot.

According to investigators, the three men responsible for the shooting, 25-year-old Deandre Washington, 35-year-old Gary Bradford, and 29-year-old Maurice Conner, suspected that Vernell was behind a drug robbery that affected the co-defendants, and they and killed him in retaliation for his supposed involvement.

The three men were identified and arrested through a thorough investigation performed by the Sandy Springs Police Department and the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.

Washington, the trigger man, was convicted of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit a crime, participation in criminal street gang activity, and weapons offenses. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years.

Bradford was convicted of participation in criminal street gang activity and conspiracy to commit a crime and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Conner was convicted of participation in criminal street gang activity, conspiracy to commit a crime, and weapons charges. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Another co-defendant, Mani Chulpayev, is awaiting trail. Chulpayev is alleged to have ties to Russian organized crime.