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Jul. 22, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

RAP WAR: Jury finds man guilty in slayings

Life in prison prescribed

By DAVID KIHARA
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Andre "Mac Minister" Dow
Rapper, music promoter blesses jurors after the sentence

The San Francisco man accused of killing a Kansas City, Mo., rapper and his friend was found guilty Monday of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

A District Court jury found Andre "Mac Minister" Dow guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the 2005 killing of 24-year-old Anthony "Fat Tone" Watkins and his 22-year-old friend Jermaine "Cowboy" Akins in Las Vegas.


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    • After delivering the verdict, the jury entered into the penalty phase of the proceeding and gave Dow two life sentences without the chance of parole. He will be formally sentenced on Sept. 24 by District Judge Stewart Bell.

    Akins mother, Daenita Akins, broke down cried when the jury read the verdict.

    "Those were tears of joy," Akins said. Daenita Akins also goes by the name Daenita Fleony.

    Dow, who was mostly stoic throughout the weeklong trial, blessed the jurors after they imposed two life sentences.

    "God bless you all," said Dow, a rapper and music promoter.

    Authorities accused Dow and another man, 29-year-old Jason Mathis, of killing Watkins and Akins over a rap war between West Coast and Midwest rappers that spilled onto the streets of Las Vegas.

    Mathis' trial is scheduled this week in District Court.

    The trial gained some notoriety because rapper Snoop Dogg, aka Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr., was on the list of potential witnesses who could have been called to testify by Dow's defense team.

    Prosecutors said Dow lured Watkins and Akins to their deaths under the guise of meeting Snoop Dogg. Dow recorded with Snoop Dogg and the two attended awards shows together.

    After the trial, one of Dow's attorneys, Erick Ferran, said they didn't call Snoop Dogg as a witness because they reviewed the evidence and felt they didn't need to put him on the stand.

    Prosecutor Josh Tomsheck said Dow and Mathis killed the two victims in retaliation for a 2004 killing in Kansas City, Mo. The victim was a rapper named Andre "Mac Dre" Hicks, of Vallejo, Calif. Although Watkins was cleared by police of involvement in that killing, rumors spread in the rap community that he was responsible, authorities said.

    Dow also is accused of killing a potential witness in the case, Lee Danae Larson, whose white Pontiac Sunfire was spotted leaving the place where Watkins and Akins were killed.

    Attorney John Powell, who also represented Dow, said Dow and Watkins were friends who had travelled together to pursue their music careers. Far from bitter rivals, the two were friends who worked closely together, Powell said.

    Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.

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    rjC wrote on July 22, 2008 06:56 PM: Dad used to say the same about 'hippy' music of the '60s that I listened to and still do! I think I grew up well and made/making a diff in public and military service.


    . wrote on July 22, 2008 02:55 PM: .


    !! wrote on July 22, 2008 02:45 PM: ha ha ha ha ha!!!


    To Ben Dover- wrote on July 22, 2008 02:43 PM: well said.......


    Johnny "The Buffalo" Watkins wrote on July 22, 2008 02:19 PM: Why do these gangster wannabes all have to have nicknames???


    Ben Dover wrote on July 22, 2008 02:00 PM: Jerry Wayne:
    yes, the kids will still liten to you...the same way they are bombarded with the noise from a garbage truck. The good news is, the smart kids will have developed enough critical thinking ability that they'll understand that most rap music is nothing but a bunch of braggadocio noise by frustrated semi-literate nobody losers.


    Jerry Wayne wrote on July 22, 2008 10:43 AM: not all RAP music is GANGSTA rap. This murder was not about music.

    Ya'll can hate all you want, but your kids are still going to listen to us.


    ShameOnU wrote on July 22, 2008 10:07 AM: It's a shame that these kinds of people would bring this type of mess to Las Vegas a city that is so beautiful, they should keep it in their own backyard I am glad for the system in vegas, throw away the key.


    the truth wrote on July 22, 2008 09:21 AM: crime would be down if there was no rap music, ya dig me!?


    MI wrote on July 22, 2008 08:23 AM: GARBAGE-GARBAGE-GARBAGE-THATS ALL THESE LOW LIFE SO CALLED ARTISTS ARE.WHAT A JOKE WE ARE AS A SOCIETY TO EVEN LET THIS ELEMENT AMONG US. BACK TO THE JUNGLE WITH ALL OF THEM.


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