MENTAL COMBAT

A Hilltop Hustler to be executed???

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell signed an execution warrant yesterday for the lethal injection of rapper Cool C.

Cool C, born Christopher Roney, was convicted of pulling the trigger in the death of Lauretha Vaird, a nine-year police veteran who was responding to a silent alarm tripped during the Jan. 2, 1996, attempted robbery in Northeast Philadelphia. At the time, Roney was known as the rap artist "Cool C." Two accomplices were sentenced to life in prison.

Vaird, a 43-year-old mother of two, was shot in the chest just after she walked in the door of the PNC Bank branch. She was the first female officer slain in the line of duty in city history.

Roney was a member of rap crew The Hilltop Hustlers in the late 1980s bringing attention to Philly rappers through singles such as "Juice Crew Dis" (which was later used by Philadephia rappers Beanie Sigel & Peedi Crack on “When You Hear”), as well as 1989's hit single, "Glamorous Life."

Roney, an inmate at the State Correctional Institution at Greene, is scheduled for lethal injection March 9.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed Roney's sentence on Jan. 20, 2005.
On June 13, 2005, Roney filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court. Certiorari was denied on Oct. 3. Roney, 36, is an inmate of the State Correctional Institution at Greene.
Governor Rendell has now signed 47 death warrants.

The Rendell Administration is committed to creating a first-rate public education system, protecting our most vulnerable citizens and continuing economic investment to support our communities and businesses. To find out more about Governor Rendell's initiatives and to sign up for his weekly newsletter, visit his website

I'll look for some Cool C records to upload.

• Cool C discography