A Boston rapper has been acquitted of murder charges nearly four years after the victim uttered the artist’s name with his final breath. Miles “Mizzie Cash” King, 21 at the time of the 2021 shooting, walked free this June following a trial that seemed, to many observers, to be built on a seemingly insurmountable pile of evidence.
The case centered on the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Maris Simmons in Milton on July 10, 2021. Police and medical personnel found Simmons shot in the chest on a residential lawn. As an officer administered first aid, the dying man gasped that he could not breathe and, when asked who shot him, uttered “Mizzy… Mizzy Cash” before losing consciousness.
Investigators quickly linked the alias to local rapper Miles King. Security footage near the scene captured a black Mercedes with Maine license plates fleeing at high speed. Detectives connected that vehicle to King, noting he had been seen with a similar car and that his mother was observed manipulating a license plate on a black Mercedes shortly after the shooting.
Further compounding the case, King’s own mother told police she knew her son was involved in a shooting and that he intended to turn himself in. King was arrested on a murder warrant the following day. The district attorney alleged King ambushed Simmons as the victim arrived at King’s home on a scooter.
The prosecution argued a motive rooted in a fractured friendship and rivalry within Boston’s rap scene, noting King had been arrested outside the victim’s home two years prior. For the victim’s family, the loss was part of a devastating pattern of grief, his mother telling reporters she had previously lost her sister and father in successive two-year intervals.
Despite the victim’s dying declaration, the fleeing vehicle, and familial statements, the jury found reasonable doubt. The specific legal arguments that led to the acquittal have not been fully disclosed, but the outcome has sent shockwaves through the local community and legal circles.
In online videos following his release, King has signaled a return to music. Commentators have noted the rarity of such an acquittal given the nature of the evidence presented. The case has also reignited conversations about violence within Boston’s music scene and the potential for artists to rise above it.
The acquittal leaves the murder of Maris Simmons legally unresolved. The Milton Police and the Norfolk District Attorney’s office have not indicated if they will pursue other leads or persons in connection with the homicide. For now, Mizzie Cash is a free man, his future and the unresolved tragedy of July 2021 casting a long shadow over Boston’s summer.
