A man accused of stalking R&B singer Ashanti and her family has been convicted and faces two years behind bars.
Devar Hurd was found guilty of stalking in court yesterday (December 22) afternoon.
A would-be rapper was convicted Tuesday of harassing Ashanti's mother, Tina Douglas, with a flurry of dirty photos and lewd text messages about the Grammy Award-winning R&B star. Devar Hurd shook his head as a Manhattan jury delivered its verdict after two days of deliberations, finding him guilty of stalking and aggravated harassment for messages the singer's mother called scary and disgusting. Hurd, a sometime model and car salesman from Griffith, Ind., said he thought the crude messages, photos of his genitals and a picture of the home where Ashanti's family lives were welcome. The 31-year-old is being held without bail until his sentencing, set for Jan. 11. He faces up to two years in prison. His lawyer, Richard Verchick, left court without speaking to reporters and didn't immediately return a phone call afterward.
According to Hurd, his lewd sex-based text messages and photos were not criminal.
Ashanti's mother, Tina Douglas, testified Hurd was a stranger who bombarded her with disgusting messages, though she told him to stop. She says he didn't. Defense attorney Richard Verchick said Hurd was misunderstood. "Sending pictures and texts is not a crime," he said. "The intent was never to harass Tina or Ashanti...What he wanted was what we all want in life -- love."
The convicted man allegedly sent over 30 inappropriate text messages to Ashanti.
Devar Hurd sent more than thirty lewd messages, in which he described pleasuring himself while thinking of the sultry singer and members of her family, including mom/manager Tina Douglas. Reportedly behind bars in lieu of paying up $50,000 in bail, sources say Devar Hurd is expected to go on trial as early as next week on misdemeanor charges of stalking and aggravated harassment. The lewd messages, which began in May, reached Ashanti's mother on numerous occasions, describing locations where the singer or her sister were present for rehearsals and other events.
Details on the messages have also been exposed to the public.
In just his third text -- and between references to the superstar's upcoming appearances, and mentions of such Ashanti hits as "Girlfriend" and "So Over You" -- Hurd allegedly zips the mom a picture of a car belonging to her 29-year-old singer-actress daughter. "Shani baby I saw U parked yesterday when I showed up to the Wiz," he allegedly says in that text, from June, going on to graphically describe masturbating to a video of one of the star's concert performances. Cops say he ended that text by typing -- perhaps with just one thumb -- "Oh ashanti ashanti ashanti, yes baby woooo lol."
No further details have been revealed as of now.
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