Philadelphia rapper Cool C (born Christopher Douglass Roney) was found guilty of first-degree murder in 1996. During a botched bank robbery, Cool C killed police officer Lauretha Vaird, the first female Philadelphia Police officer killed in the line of duty. Cool C has spent the last 18 years in prison. He has now been issued a date for his execution: January 8, 2015.
Cool C’s musical career peaked in the late 1980s — Juice Crew Dis and The Glamorous Life were his big hits. In 1991 he joined hardcore rap group C.E.B. (which stands for Countin’ Endless Bank) with Warren McGlone (Steady B) and Ultimate Eaze. Sales and reviews of their debut album Countin’ Endless Bank weren’t good. In 1996, Cool C, Steady B, and another local rapper Mark Canty tried to rob a PNC bank. Steady B and Canty received life sentences with no chance of parole. P.S. Another Philly act, G. Love and Special Sauce, wrote a song “Slipped Away” about Vaird’s death – she was also a single mom raising two kids.
