A man received a 20 to 25-year prison sentence after a Cumberland County jury found him guilty of murdering J. Cole mentor Carlos Brown.
Joshua Joyce, a 42-year-old Army veteran, shot and killed Brown, known in Fayetteville’s Hip-Hop community as Filthe Ritch, in May of 2023. According to cops, the shooting happened during a dispute that escalated from social media arguments to deadly violence.
Brown was one half of the legendary Fayetteville duo Bomm Sheltuh alongside Brion Unger, who performed under the name Nervous Reck.
The group became instrumental in launching Cole’s career when they invited a 14-year-old Jermaine Cole to perform at open mic sessions in the late 1990s and made his debut on the Fayettenam Bommuhs compilation.
J. Cole has repeatedly credited the duo with giving him his first real opportunity to showcase his talent and build confidence as a rapper. The fatal encounter occurred on May 29, 2023, when Brown was sitting on a porch on Lynn Avenue.
Joyce arrived at the location and immediately opened fire, leaving Brown to die from his injuries at the hospital.
Court testimony revealed that tensions between the two men had been building through heated exchanges on Instagram in the days leading up to the murder. Prosecutors presented evidence showing Joyce had commented “I’ll be up there in a few minutes” on one of Brown’s Instagram videos the day before the killing.
The comment came after Joyce left a laughing emoji on Brown’s post about personal struggles, which Brown said hurt his feelings and prompted him to publicly question their friendship.
The dispute centered around what Brown described as betrayals by Joyce, including Joyce’s refusal to help recover belongings after Brown’s home was burglarized by someone Joyce knew.
Nervous Reck testified as a witness for the prosecution, describing his longtime friend and collaborator as a nonviolent person who avoided confrontation throughout his life.
“Filthe was definitely not a violent person at all,” Nervous Reck told The Fayetteville Observer. “Given the environment he grew up in, he probably had every reason to be that type of person, but he never was.”
Brown had been struggling financially at the time of his death, living in his vehicle after the burglary left him homeless.
Nervous Reck said Brown was supposed to move into a Durham studio space the week after he was killed, with plans to reunite Bomm Sheltuh and return to making music together.
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