A rapper charged with killing a former Rhode Island high school basketball star has pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and been sentenced to serve 35 years in prison.
Prosecutors say 24-year-old Jose Morales, Providence, was sentenced Monday to 50 years with 35 years to serve and the remainder suspended with probation for the June 2016 killing of 22-year-old Kip Stewart.
Under a plea agreement, the judge dismissed first-degree murder, felony assault and gun charges.
Prosecutors say Morales was part of a group that got into a fight with another group. Morales took out a pistol and fired at the opposing group, but hit his friend, Stewart, in the head.
Stewart, a father of a young child, had been a star basketball player at Mount Pleasant High School.
