During the trial, Ephron had claimed that A$AP Rocky – whose real name is Rakim Mayers – had opened fire on him and grazed his knuckles in the process, but Mayers denied the charges throughout.
Mayers had been facing up to 24 years in prison, but the 12-person jury found him not guilty, almost a month after the trial began in late January.
Rihanna, the Umbrella hitmaker, who share sons RZA, two, and Riot, 18 months with Mayers, was seated behind her partner as the verdict was read out.
He said: “Thank God for saving my life.”
The Fashion Killa hitmaker became friends with Ephron in high school, although the pair spoke less and less in the years that saw him become world-famous.
During the trial, Mayers’s defense argued that the firearm in question was a harmless prop gun, whilst Ephron and his legal team alleged that it was an actual weapon.
Part of the altercation had been captured on camera, and the jury was able to watch some of the footage was captured via surveillance video, but nothing of the actual alleged shooting was filmed.
With no evidence to corroborate Ephron’s accusations, Judge Mark Arnold said: “Mr Mayers, you’re excused!”
Just before the trial, Mayers had rejected an offer of serving six months in jail if he accepted just one of the two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
Following his acquittal, he said: “This whole experience has been crazy for the past four years.
“I’m thankful and it’s blessed to be here right now to be a free man talking to y’all.”
