Englewood man gets life in prison for 2011 murder of aspiring Brooklyn rapper
A former Englewood man was sentenced to life in prison for the 2011 fatal shooting of an aspiring Brooklyn rapper he said he considered family.
In June, Randy Manning was found guilty for a second time of shooting Rhian "Kampane" Stoute in Englewood and setting his body on fire in August 2011. Stoute's burned body was found in the back of his SUV on a street in Paramus.
Manning, a native of Trinidad and Tobago who lived in Englewood for a time, was initially convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2014. But in 2020, the state Supreme Court upheld the decision of an appellate judge who had tossed the conviction, ruling that the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office illegally skirted the requirement for a warrant before searching the call records and location data on Manning's cellphone.
"There is nothing more cowardly, nothing more cowardly, than shooting someone in the back," Assistant Prosecutor Gary Donatello said during Manning's sentencing. "And that is exactly what this defendant did. He shot another human, another person full of life, in the back and killed him."
Donatello described Stoute as a "creative, passionate person" who brought light, joy and happiness into the world through his music.
Several members of Stoute's family gave victim-impact statements, speaking of how he wanted to provide for his family. One of Stoute's cousins read a letter from his mother, who spoke of cherishing the 33 years she had with her son and that she remains deeply heartbroken.
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Superior Court Judge Gary Wilcox said one of the things that stood out to him was a telephone call Manning had with one of the detectives.
"I remember he, at least two occasions, possibly more, referred to Mr. Stoute as only being interested in women and money," Wilcox said. "He didn't sound like he was talking about somebody that he loved. He sounded jealous and angry."
Donatello said Manning lied and that it told the jury everything they needed to know about his character. He added that Manning could be seen on a gas station surveillance tape, joking and laughing with the attendant just hours after shooting Stoute while picking up a gas canister, a lighter and a pair of gloves, items that would be submitted as evidence during the trial.
"These are the actions of a cold-hearted killer," Donatello said.
Manning's attorney, Milagros Camacho, argued for her client to be sentenced to 30 years in prison for the most serious charge of murder. She said Manning maintains his innocence but that it didn't mean he wasn't "remorseful" or "upset" about what happened.
The judge sentenced Manning on several counts, including murder and arson. Manning was sentenced to life in prison for murder, five years for arson, 10 years for desecration of human remains, 10 years for unlawfully disturbing remains, five years for hindering by destroying evidence, five years for hindering by false information and 18 months for unlawful taking of a means of conveyance.
Wilcox called Stoute's killing an "abhorrent and horrible act" and spoke to the argument of consecutive versus concurrent sentences. The judge determined the sentences would run concurrently with the life sentence because all the acts were connected, even though they were committed at different times.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Englewood NJ man sentenced for murder of aspiring rapper
