A Louisiana grand jury indicted Mystikal on a charge of first-degree rape and nine other criminal counts on Wednesday, September 7.
The rapper is accused of berating, beating, choking, and raping a woman he accused of stealing $100 from him.
If convicted, the rape charge comes with a mandatory life sentence under state law.
Who Is Mystikal?
Mystikal, born Michael Lawrence Tyler, is a 51-year-old platinum-selling and Grammy-nominated rapper hailing from New Orleans.
He was signed to Jive Records in 1995 and Master P enlisted him as a No Limit soldier a year later.
Mystikal quickly rose to fame with his infectious hits like “Shake It Fast,” “Here I Go,” “Danger” featuring Nivea, “The Man Right Chea,” and “Bouncin’ Back (Bumpin’ Me Against the Wall)” featuring Pharrell Williams.
Sadly, his high-flying career was derailed by a series of arrests for marijuana possession, gun possession, misdemeanor domestic violence, sexual assault accusations, and convictions, and a prison sentence.
Mystikal’s History Of Sexual Assault
In 2003, the rapper pleaded guilty to forcing a woman to perform “continuous sex acts” at his Baton Rouge apartment in July 2002.
The victim accused Mystikal and two bodyguards of sexually assaulting her after he accused her of stealing $80,000 worth of checks.
The victim denied stealing any money and the attack was videotaped.
In 2004, the rapper was sentenced to six years in prison for sexual battery and extortion and became a lifetime registered sex offender, the most serious level of a registered offender under Louisiana law because of the risk of a repeat offense.
Mystikal was ordered back to jail for three months in 2012 following an arrest for misdemeanor domestic abuse.
The arrested violated his five-year probation from the sexual battery and extortion case.
Then, in 2017, he surrendered to police and was arrested again for first-degree rape for an assault that allegedly happened in a Shreveport casino.
After spending 18 months in jail, the rapper was released on a $3 million bond and the charges were eventually dropped.
2022 Sexual Assault
According to court testimony from Sheriff’s Detective Garrett Keith, a woman went to Mystikal’s home in Prairieville on Saturday (July 30) around 8 p.m. to discuss a financial commitment he had made to her.
The woman reported that the rapper went into the bathroom and when he returned, his behavior abruptly changed.
He accused the victim of stealing $100, he choked her and pulled out her hair.
Mystikal later apologized and made the victim pray with him.
He then spat in her face and threw rubbing alcohol on her to cleanse her “bad spirits” before raping her.
Following the assault, Mystikal made the victim use her cellphone to send him a $100 payment. He then took her phone and upped the payment to $150 before allowing her to leave his home.
Sheriff’s Detective Garrett Keith said the woman suffered cuts, and bruises, and some of her wounds were consistent with rape.
Deputies found some of her braids, an earring, and a broken fingernail in Mystikal’s home.
Mystikal’s Arrest
Ascension Parish sheriff’s deputies arrested Mystikal on Sunday, August 31, 2022, after interviewing the victim at Baton Rouge General Hospital.
He was booked on first-degree rape, simple robbery, and felony domestic abuse battery by strangulation.
The rapper was also charged with possession of methamphetamine, heroin, and three other drugs.
The Indictments
On Wednesday, September 7, a Louisiana grand jury indicted Mystikal on a charge of first-degree rape.
In a second indictment, the rapper was charged with single counts of simple criminal damage to property, false imprisonment, domestic abuse battery by strangulation, simple robbery, possession of heroin, illegal possession of Xanax, possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The rapper is being held without bail.
Since his bail hearing, Mystikal has disavowed his previous attorneys and hired the attorneys who helped him get the 2017 sexual assault charges dropped.
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Source: AP News, The Advocate
