Following Mystikal’s 20-year rape sentence in Louisiana this month, attention has now turned to a civil suit filed against the “Shake Ya Ass” artist in 2023.
In March, the 55-year-old, born Michael Lawrence Tyler, pleaded guilty to the 2022 rape in question. As Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office reps said in a news release issued upon his July 2022 arrest, the three-time Grammy nominee had been “identified as a suspect” following an interview with the victim. Initial charges included first-degree rape, simple robbery, domestic abuse battery - strangulation, false imprisonment, and simple criminal damage to property.
By June, Mystikal had been sentenced in Louisiana court to 20 years behind bars.
In the civil suit, per court docs viewed by Complex, Mystikal, who later denied the suit’s allegations against him in his own filing, is argued as being liable for “assault and battery, sexual assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.” According to the woman, the assault took place in the Prairieville area and began with Mystikal accusing the victim of stealing money from him.
“When she denied it, Defendant struck Plaintiff in the face with a closed fist,” reads the court docs, dated July 28, 2023. “This battery ensued for several minutes. During the battery, Defendant choked Plaintiff to such a point that she almost lost consciousness. Defendant continued to accuse Plaintiff of stealing money. Each time Plaintiff denied stealing money, Defendant struck her again. During the battery, Defendant made Plaintiff strip off her pants. Plaintiff sustained bruises, scrapes, a laceration, missing hair, and a broken fingernail.”
The victim is said to have then asked to use the restroom, with Mystikal agreeing only under the condition that he watched.
“While she was using the bathroom, Defendant spit in her face and threw rubbing alcohol in her face,” the docs state. “Defendant then grabbed a pair of scissors and began to swing them violently and threatened Plaintiff. Defendant eventually told Plaintiff they needed to pray. He had her kneel by his bedside, and he knelt beside her. They knelt for a few minutes and prayed.”
As the docs lay out in graphic detail from there, Mystikal ultimately proceeded to vaginally and anally rape the victim, then resumed his insistence that she had stolen money from him.
Further cited in the five-page filing, among other specific damages, is that the woman was forced to relocate from her home due to no longer feeling safe.
The suit, filed in 2023 in connection with the same assault at the center of Mystikal’s rape sentence, is expected to continue forward in light of the conclusion of criminal proceedings.
