Naman Shrestha
The big dreams of the up-and-coming Atlanta rapper and a father of one, Rahim Grant, were shattered when he was murdered in his own apartment in December 2017. As the detectives dug deep, they were shocked to learn that the victim had recorded his murder on his phone. The entire case of Rahim’s murder is profiled in the episode titled ‘Every Shot He Took, I Felt It’ of Hulu’s ‘How I Caught My Killer,’ which also features insightful interviews with the victim’s loved ones and the officials linked to the investigation.
Rahim Grant Was Found Dead at His Residence
On March 30, 1989, Geraldine Grant Bryson and Tony Bryson welcomed a boy into the world and named him Rahim Malik Grant. Born and raised in Georgia, his talent for music surfaced when he was three and a half years old. Making the most of his talent and honing his skills regularly, he even began playing the drums before using the microphone. At the age of 7, he was featured on ‘Showtime at the Apollo.’ As he grew up, Rahim realized that rapping was his calling. So, under the name of Red Beezy, he embarked on a mission to make a name in the hip-hop industry.
On the side, Rahim also produced music and became a recording engineer. By the time he was in his 20s, he had made quite an impact on the hip-hop scene of Atlanta by becoming an established hip-hop artist and music producer. Apart from progressing on the professional front, the young man also made progress on the personal front. In 2013, a fan named Ciera Harp reportedly approached him and asked for an autograph and a job. He employed her and gave her the responsibility of promoting his shows. As the two got close in a few months, they began dating. One thing led to another and the two brought an adorable daughter into their world — Angel Grant.
However, just a while after Rahim secured a major deal, his aspirations to do great things in life and raise his daughter came to a sudden halt. On December 29, 2017, the police found the 28-year-old Atlanta rapper lying dead on the floor between the bathroom and bedroom. The autopsy of his body revealed that he had been shot a total of seven times — once in his upper back, once in his lower back, twice in each arm, and once in his head. When the investigators searched the crime scene for clues and evidence, they discovered a push knife covered with blood and Rahim’s cell phone, both of which were collected by the police as evidence.
Rahim Grant Was Dealing With Relationship Conflicts
On the fateful night, the authorities were called by one of Rahim Grant’s neighbors when his estranged partner, Ciera Harp, showed up at the neighbor’s house. She had multiple stab wounds on her legs and was bleeding profusely while she had Angel in her arms. After inspecting Rahim’s body, the detectives went to the neighbor’s house, where they found a Ruger LCP .380 pistol that Ciera had brought with her. Later, they learned that the gun belonged to Rahim. Meanwhile, the mother of Angel was rushed to the hospital as her wounds required immediate medical attention. Upon conducting interviews with Rahim’s loved ones, the investigators learned that the couple had split up, and he was about to obtain full parental rights to their 3-year-old daughter, Angel.
At the time, Ciera had been staying with him temporarily after being evicted from the place where she was staying. While the rapper started to rise to fame, she began to act up in jealous rage at times. When things got out of hand, Rahim’s mother suggested he record all the altercations on his phone as proof. Right after Ciera was released from the hospital, she was interviewed by the detectives on January 4, 2018. She told the detectives that there was another woman in the house on December 29, 2017, with Rahim as Ciera was cooking dinner. Claiming that he had been abusive towards her for several years, she said that an argument sparked between them, making the other woman leave the premises.
The Shooter Claimed Self-Defense But Video Evidence Proved Otherwise
As per her claims, the argument got more heated, so much so that he began beating her and stabbing her while she was down. In the middle of the struggle, she claimed that she was able to get hold of his gun and shoot several shots at him in self-defense. She said, “I couldn’t see anything, I just started shooting … I remember turning around and I saw my daughter and I grabbed her and I just ran. And then I woke up in the hospital.” Ciera’s claims of self-defense did not align with the wounds on Rahim’s body, such as the stab wounds and the gunshot wound at the top of his head. Although the investigators found her suspicious, they did not have enough evidence to take her into custody and charge her with murder.
Thanks to the victim’s mother, the detectives went through his phone to check if he had recorded anything on the night of his murder. When the police could not unlock his phone, Ciera told them the passcode. The investigators found four videos that recorded the incident. It revealed that Rahim’s former girlfriend did not act in self-defense and shot him cold-blooded in front of Angel while he was begging for his life and to hold his daughter for the last time. Moreover, in the video evidence, Ciera’s legs had no stab wounds, which was proof that she had self-inflicted those wounds to victimize herself. With sufficient evidence against her, the detectives arrested her for the murder of Rahim Grant on February 22, 2018.
Ciera Harp is Incarcerated at a Georgia Prison Facility
The trial for Ciera Harp in connection to the shooting of Rahim Grant got underway in May 2019. After the prosecution presented the evidence in front of the jury and proved that she had stabbed herself and not the victim, the jury convicted the 29-year-old woman of malice murder and aggravated assault on May 22, 2019. Ciera’s mother, Adrienne Thurmond, testified against her daughter at the sentencing in June 2019. She claimed that the convict was a manipulative liar and asked the court to sterilize her daughter and give her the highest punishment possible.
Before the sentencing, Ciera took the stand and addressed the court. She stated, “I am truly apologetic and pray one day I can be forgiven by myself and everyone involved.” In addition, she said that she was highly drunk that night and not in the right state of mind. Despite her pleas for leniency, the judge sentenced her to 125 years in prison. Currently, she is serving her sentence at Pulaski State Prison at 373 Upper River Road in Hawkinsville, Georgia.
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