Troy Ave Released From Rikers Island Prison: “Ya Boi Home!!”

Troy Ave is a free man after serving less than a year in prison for his involvement in the deadly 2016 shooting at Irving Plaza in New York City.

The outspoken rapper took to Instagram on Monday (August 26) and shared a photo of himself outside of Rikers Island wearing sunglasses, a mask and holding up a bag of cash. He’s also posing in front of a red sports car and holding a box of expensive liquor. He wrote in the caption simply, “Ya Boi Home!!”

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Troy Ave reported to court in February to take responsibility for his role in the shooting involving podcast host Taxstone. The incident claimed the life of Troy Ave’s bodyguard, Ronald “Banga” McPhatter. Troy Ave shared a video to his Instagram account before the hearing.

“Alright, y’all, they might cheat me, you might not see me for a while,” he said at the time. “But just know the streets is a myth. All them people that was in the car with me, I end up taking the guns. Somebody shot at me, and instead of laying down and dying, I’d have been a hero, a martyr, I took the gun and bust back.

“And there you have it. Here go the consequences. But we don’t cry over spilt milk. We take the lemons and make lemonade. God is great, and the paper’s straight. Y’all keeps it cool. Y’all keep running it up. Send the prayers up. Prayers count more than anything.”

Troy Ave’s attorney, John B. Stella, issued an official statement shortly after sentencing. He wrote, “Roland Collins [Troy Ave] was sentenced on 2/9/24 to 1 year jail on his plea to attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the 2nd degree. Under the law he must serve 8 months to satisfy that sentence. Since he previously spent almost 2 months in jail before he made bail, the remaining balance of time he must serve is a little over 6 months.”

For his role, Taxstone was sentenced to 35 years in prison after being found guilty of multiple charges, including manslaughter and possession of a firearm as a felon.