Dancehall music has again suffered a major blow after the head of one of the most powerful digital distribution agencies, Kevin ‘Clement’ Reynolds has been sentenced to life in prison for the 2002 murder of Wesley King.
Reynolds, the founder of 21st Hapilos Digital Distribution, received the sentence Tuesday in Montgomery County, Maryland, two months following his conviction on the 12-year-old murder charge as well as conspiracy to commit murder. He has been in police custody in the United States since April 2014 when he was arrested by federal marshals at JFK International Airport in New York.
It was accused that Reynolds went to King’s Maryland home and fatally shot him in front of his daughter. He got a new passport shortly after the killing, as well as a new identity as he went under the alias, Daniel Graham which helped him evade capture for so long.
“Twelve years and a music empire later, the long arm of the law caught up with Dennis Graham a.k.a. ‘Kevin “Clement” Reynolds,” Montgomery County state attorney, John J McCarthy told U.S. press following the sentencing. “When a defendant kills a man in front of his 11 year old daughter he deserves to pay a very high price for his crime.”
Under Reynolds’ stewardship, 21st Hapilos has become one of dancehall music’s leading distributors, working with virtually every major name in the Jamaican music industry,
