Local rap battle helps raise funds for victim of drive-by shooting

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

SALT LAKE CITY — The family of a teenager shot in a drive-by shooting in Murray last month is grateful for the support of a niche community.

"Mic Masters Alliance is a rap battle league, but it's also like a family to me," said Nathan Barth.

He's been a DJ for Mic Masters Alliance, who organized a rap battle Saturday night in downtown Salt Lake City.

"The local hip-hop community has been really, really great and has stepped up a lot for sure," Barth said.

Barth is the stepfather of Aspen McCarty, 14. McCarty was seriously wounded after he was shot multiple times near a Murry TRAX station on May 30. A 21-year-old man was shot and killed, and another teen was also injured.

The alleged suspect, Raoul Bedoang, 17, is facing 19 felony counts. He was charged as an adult on Thursday.

"(Aspen is) still in the hospital. He's confined to a wheelchair," Barth said.

Doctors have advised Aspen's family that he may not be able to walk again.

"Our home is definitely not wheelchair accessible, and so we're going to have to uproot our whole life and completely move everything," Barth said.

Money collected at Saturday's rap battle was donated to Aspen's family, "and everybody, collectively as a team, came together and donated as well," said Jared Boyden, president of Mic Masters Alliance.

"We've established … everybody's like family. So when something happens (to one person), we're all there and the severity of everything that happened, it was something that shocked all of us," Boyden said.

Something Barth said will go a long way towards helping Aspen.

"We feel blessed in that way for sure," he said.