Man Convicted Of Freaky Tah Retaliation Murder
 

A Queens man was recently convicted to ten years in prison for killing a man in retaliation to the murder of The Lost Boyz' Freaky Tah.

Corey Bussey, 26, of St. Albans, Queens, was sentenced for slaying Roderick Padgett, 21. Reports say Bussey thought Padgett had murdered his friend, Raymond Rogers aka Freaky Tah. Freaky Tah was a member of the famed crew, The Lost Boyz, which included members Mr. Cheeks, Pretty Lou, and Spigg Nice. The group's 1995 debut, Legal Drug Money, released hit singles "Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless" and "Jeeps, Lex Coups." After going gold, they released their second LP, Love, Peace & Nappiness in 1997. Tah was murder while exiting a party in Queens in 1999.

"The victim, Roderick Padgett, was fatally wounded in an execution-style in a terrible and tragic case of mistaken identity," Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. "Though today's sentencing closed the book on the case, it doesn't eradicate the harm and suffering that the defendant's action inflicted on the victim and his family."

Under a plea agreement that could earn him an early release in two years, Bussey confessed to shooting Padgett in a South Ozone, Queens alley back in March 31, 1999.

According to prosecutors, Padgett was shot in the head, arm, side and leg. He was reportedly attacked as he exited a night club. Padgett was shot as he climbed a fence and hit once again while on the ground moments later.

Bussey was convicted of the murder in 2002 and sentenced to 15 years to life. An appeals court eventually overturned the conviction after ruling that Bussey's attorney should have considered using an alibi.

Following his arrest, Bussey told cops he couldn't have killed Padgett because he was attending a memorial service for Tah at the time of his murder.

"He had a viable alibi defense," defense attorney Edwin Schulman stated. "But the risk was too great to go to trial because it would have brought out the suggestion that it was a revenge killing, something that wasn't brought out at the first trial."

During the sentencing, Bussey, through his lawyer, requested to spend the remainder of his term in Eastern Correctional Facility, where he served the first six years of his sentence.

Tah was shot in the head as he left a party in Jamaica, Queens on the morning of March 28, 1999. Eleven days following Tah's killing, police arrested Rasheem Fletcher and charged him with second-degree murder in Tah's slaying.