Remy Ma's Shooting Trial Begins, Claims It Was An Accident

Bronx rapper Remy Ma was in court yesterday, facing charges that she shot and almost killed a former friend over allegedly stolen cash.

As previously reported, Makeda Barnes-Joseph was shot last July outside a New York club after attending a mutual friend's party. The incident was allegedly sparked when Remy discovered $2,000 missing from her purse and accused the victim of stealing the money.

Rem's lawyer Ivan Fisher depicted the shooting as a "tragic accident" as the trial began in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, according to the Associated Press.

Fisher said the rapper (born Remy Smith) and Barnes-Joseph struggled over the gun and it went off accidentally, critically injuring Barnes-Joseph.

This is the first time Remy's version of events has been made public. Up to this point, she hadn't even admitted to doing the shooting.

The prosecution paints a different picture.

Attorney for Barnes-Joesph, Jason Berland, said an angry Remy accused the shooting victim of stealing $2,000 from her purse, and shot her twice in the abdomen with a .45 caliber gun. He claims Remy then fled the scene in a Cadillac Escalade and rammed into a parked car up the street.

Berland said Remy then ditched the SUV and hid out at a friend's house. She did not call the police or summon medical help.

But Fisher said Barnes-Joseph's own story changed when she filed a $20 million lawsuit against Remy. That suit has since been withdrawn.

The prosecution will have to make its case without the DNA evidence it had been banking on.

After scouring the victim's car for evidence pointing to Remy in the shooting, nothing useful was found, according to Fisher.

"They were looking in the victim's car for evidence of blood. Now I ask you, since my client wasn't shot and the victim was, whose blood do you think it was? As long as the prosecution keeps thinking like this, we might win this case," Fisher said.

If convicted Remy could face as much as 25 years in prison.