Battle rapper Tech 9 faced sexual assault charges involving a minor before his death
The Philly native’s official cause of death has yet to be revealed.
The sudden death of battle rapper Tech 9 left many in the hip hop community devastated last month. While his official cause of death has yet to be revealed, on Tuesday (April 2), new details about the late Philly native’s life was uncovered.
According to official court documents obtained by Complex, Tech 9 (real name Akeem Mickens) was facing multiple sexual assault charges involving a minor prior to his death. He posted $50,000 bail on Monday (Jan. 7) after his arrest on Saturday (Jan. 5). The 47-year-old had a scheduled formal arraignment over the charges on March 25, the same day his death was announced. His pre-trial conference was scheduled for April 16.
Tech 9’s disturbing charges included unlawful contact with minor, harassment, and child pornography, Complex reports. Documents also revealed the late rapper had a previous charge of “indecent assault” dismissed.
As previously reported, fellow battle rapper Buttah From The Block broke the news of Tech 9’s passing on Facebook. “Aw man it hurts me to be saying this right now and After speaking to your dad this is even harder to process,” he wrote. “PHILADELPHIA AND THE BATTLE RAP CULTURE ALL TOOK A LOSS WITH THIS ONE. HE WAS A PIONEER, GENTLEMAN, GREAT FATHER ENTREPRENEUR, ENTHUSIAST AND PHILANTHROPIST. With Deep Hurt And sorrow i say we will miss u and love u bro.”
In an interview with XXL, Buttah said he suspected no foul play in Tech 9’s death. “We are praying that it was natural causes. He had no signs of harm done to his body,” he told the outlet. However, the recent revelations have some fans speculating the battle rapper may have taken his own life in the wake of his charges.
“Philadelphia battle rap Legend “Tech 9″ was apparently a pedophile and took his life the day before his court hearing…still doing research to confirm but CRAZY PLOT TWIST to [an] untimely death,” one Twitter user wrote. “This Tech 9 shit dont sit right with me he was walking around a free man with enough charges to get someone football numbers, no one knew about it, and he just dies the day before court? Plus the press release of his death was ruled health complications something aint right,” another user questioned.
Complex has reached out to Philadelphia’s District Attorney’s Office and the person listed in the documents as Tech 9’s lawyer.
More on this story as it develops.