Aspiring Harlem rapper who turned himself in to face murder charge gets clemency from Gov. Hochul

A one-time aspiring Harlem rapper who turned himself in to face charges in a long-unsolved 1993 upper Manhattan murder was granted clemency on Friday by Gov. Hochul.

Trevell Coleman, who was serving a 15-year sentence for the pre-dawn slaying on an East Harlem street corner, will now get a shot at instead of staying in prison until at least 2025.

Coleman, 49, went by the stage names G Dep or Ghetto Deputy and once signed a $350,000 deal with Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Bad Boy records.

The Special Delivery rapper walked into the 25th Precinct house in 2010 out of the blue and told detectives he wanted to confess to a murder that took place 17 years earlier.

Cops connected details of his confession to the murder of John Henkel, 32, who was shot three times and left to die on East 122nd St. and Park Ave. in March 1993.

Coleman said he turned himself in because he was wracked with guilt over the killing, which police had all but given up on ever solving.

A jury convicted Coleman of the murder and he was sentenced to the mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison for second-degree murder.

His push for a chance at early release got a huge boost from Manhattan Assistant District Attorney David Drucker, the original prosecutor on his case.

“With Mr. Coleman there is no doubt — his remorse is as genuine as any I, or others I have talked to, have ever seen,” Drucker said in an Aug. 3 letter to a state board that recommends cases for potential clemency grants.

The possibility that Coleman could go free earlier than expected drew an angry reaction from one of Henkel’s surviving relatives who insisted he should “rot in jail” until his sentence was complete.

A spokesman for Hochul stressed that Coleman is not walking free immediately and must still convince a parole board that he is ready to be released.

“It is my solemn responsibility as governor to recognize the efforts individuals have made to improve their lives and show that redemption is possible,” Hochul said in a press release.

Coleman was granted clemency along with 15 other state prisoners in a traditional end-of-year holiday gesture.

Among the other ex-cons who will get pardons, which result in their records being scubbed of convictions altogether, is Kayode Oseni, a convicted robber whose case was championed by the Legal Aid Society.

Oseni, 33, who was just six when he came to New York with his family from Nigeria, risked deportation from the conviction for the crime that took place when he was 19. He earned a college degree while behind bars.

“A conviction from (Oseni’s) … has threatened to entirely upend his life, and separate him from his family and community,” said Mia Unger, a Legal Aid attorney.

Most of the other inmates were convicted of drug offenses. Several have worked to obtain college degrees while behind bars and others have played important roles in their communities since being released.

Hochul said she has ordered a fairer and more streamlined process for determining candidates for clemency. She has granted clemency to 36 people in 2023, the highest number since she took office in 2021.

Legal Aid says there are hundreds of other inmates who are worthy of having their sentences cut short or expunged after being convicted to crimes as adolescents and hit with “extreme sentences.”

Some need pardons to avoid being deported to countries of their birth upon their eventual release from prison due to immigration laws.