Rapper Cool C Has Been Granted Stay of Execution

RadioOnFire.com - UPDATE: Cool C has been granted a stay of execution by a Philadelphia judge,NBC Philadelphia reports. This is his second stay after Philly Judge L. Felipe Restrepo granted him an emergency stay of execution in December.

Philadelphia rapper Cool C is set to be executed by lethal injection on Thursday. The execution comes 19 years since Cool C was convicted in 1996 for the first-degree murder of Police Officer Lauretha Vaird during a bank robbery attempt.

Cool C (born Christopher Roney), Hilltop Hustlers' Steady B (born Warren McGlone) and Ernest Mark Canty reportedly robbed a Philadelphia PNC Bank on Jan. 2, 1996. Roney was believed to be seen in a surveillance video aiming a gun at the bank's entrance when Officer Vaird, a 43-year-old mother of two, walked into the bank -- after being alerted by an alarm -- and was killed. According to The Village Voice, despite surveillance video, "ballistic and forensic evidence" and eyewitness reports, Roney, 26 years old at the time, claims he was eating with his mother at the time of the robbery.

Cool C's execution was originally scheduled for March 9, 2006, by former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell but was delayed due to litigation issues. Canty and McGlone received life in prison without parole, while Roney was sentenced to death.

Cool C is known for his contributions to the Philly rap scene since the late '80s. He received recognition for his 1987 debut single "Juice Crew Dis," which targeted the hip-hop collective -- specifically members MC Shan and Roxanne Shanté. Cool C signed to Atlantic shortly after the success of his album Down to the Grissle. He also garnered success with "I Gotta Habit" and "Glamorous Life," which samples Sheila E's song of the same name. Cool C later joined Steady B and Ultimate Eaze to form the collective C.E.B.