Lil Boosie acquitted of murder charge

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BATON ROUGE, La., May 13 (UPI) -- A Louisiana jury has acquitted Torrence Hatch, the rapper known as Lil Boosie, of a first-degree murder charge.

MTV.com said the verdict was announced Friday after a week of testimony and deliberation.

The charge stemmed from a 2009 case, in which the 29-year-old hip-hop artist had been accused of ordering Michael "Marlo Mike" Louding to kill Terry Boyd.

Boyd, 35, was shot to death at his home in Baton Rouge in 2009.

MTV.com reported prosecutors and police said Louding told them he killed Boyd at Hatch's behest. But Louding testified at trial he didn't shoot Boyd and was with Hatch at Hatch's home the night Boyd was killed.

It is unclear what charges Louding might face for his alleged involvement in the shooting.

Hatch is serving an eight-year jail sentence for non-related drug charges.