American record producer, Barry Hankerson has narrated how his late niece, Aaliyah Dana Haughton was sexually assaulted by R&B singer, R. Kelly when she was 15.
Gatekeepers News reports that Hankerson, during an interview on the Rickey Smiley Morning Show, opened up to the court that he thought of killing R. Kelly when he found out that he had assaulted Aaliyah who was an actress and singer before her death.
The producer had introduced the deceased to R. Kelly after which they collaborated on her debut album. He said R. Kelly and his niece then began a relationship and even planned to marry in secret, according to him, Aaliyah was 15 and Kelly was 27 at that time.
Aaliyah died in a plane crash in 2001 when she was 21-year-old.
Hankerson while speaking about his reaction to reports of Kelly’s sexual misconduct with his niece, said he initially thought of getting revenge but eventually turned to his religion to help him through.
“To be very honest with you, of course, I was upset,” he stated. “I had to really, really consider what my actions would be.”
“I found out, I wasn’t a hardcore criminal. I couldn’t kill nobody,” he explained. “So, I took it, I’m a Muslim, and I went to Minster Farrakhan and we just prayed about it, resolved ourselves to let God handle him. I think that’s what’s going on. Ain’t no sense in two lives getting destroyed.”
Gatekeepers News reports that during Kelly’s racketeering trial in New York, his former tour manager testified that he paid a government worker for a false ID to help put plans in place for a marriage.
Prosecutors have argued that the singer was pushing to marry Aaliyah because he thought it would prevent her from having to testify against him.
“It’s just too emotional for me,” Hankerson said amid several reports of Kelly’s trial. “It just brings back too many bad thoughts for my whole family. He impacted my whole family, you know. It’s just a bad thing.”
