December 29, 2020 – Washington D.C. gangland titan Rayful Edmond eliminated a lieutenant-turned-rival in a nightclub parking lot slaying in the summer of 1988. It was at this same exact time that Edmond, the then-23-year old drug lord who owned the District’s crack game, was fraternizing with members of the Georgetown University Hoyas men’s basketball team. Brandon (B-Money) Terrell was shot to death by Edmond’s “Top of The Line” crew enforcer and right-hand man, Columbus (Little Nut) Daniels, in the early morning hours of June 23, 1988 outside the Chapter III nightclub following an altercation inside the establishment where Terrell disrespected Edmond in front of a large group of patrons in the VIP section. The very public and brazen hit laid the foundation for Edmond’s downfall in a federal bust less than a year later. Terrell, 24, had worked for Edmond and was in the process of starting his own organization. Authorities believed Terrell branched off on his own in April and was infringing on Edmond’s turf. “I’m through with Rayful and his guys stepping all over me,” Terrell told his girlfriend in the minutes prior to him being gunned down. Daniels played on Edmond’s “Men At Work,” summer basketball team, a street-tournament squad that he alternately played, coached and recruited for from the best the DC-Maryland-Virginia area had to offer. Georgetown All-American center and future Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning played for Men At Work during the summer of ’88, but neither him nor any of his teammates were present when Daniels shot Terrell allegedly on Edmond’s say-so, per reports. The relationship between Edmond and Hoyas players and the infamous behind-closed-doors showdown between the dope kingpin and the Hoyas’ iconic head coach John Thompson are the subject of a chapter in Thompson’s recently released autobiography, I Came As A Shadow (Macmillan Publishers). A true blue basketball junkie, Edmond sat courtside at all the Georgetown and Washington Bullets games of that era and was introduced to the Hoyas players via Georgetown small forward John Turner, a childhood friend of his. Turner and Mourning were both NBA first-round draft picks. Thompson passed away back in August, having retired from the sidelines two decades ago. He was 79. Edmond, 56, is serving a life prison sentence stemming from a 1990 drug and racketeering conviction. Charged in the Terrell homicide, Edmond and Daniels were convicted of second degree murder. In October 1988, Thompson summoned Edmond to a meeting at his office on the posh Georgetown campus and instructed him to stay away from his team. The meeting was cordial, according to Thompson’s account in the book, not contentious as has been reported in the past. Edmond and Terrell were friends and running buddies for years until Terrell’s ambition got the best of him. They were often seen chopping it up together at “The Chapter,” the hottest dope boy night spot in D.C. in the late 1980s, and that’s where their final and fatal altercation occurred. Per police records, Edmond reportedly requested Terrell’s “Top of the Line” crew chain back in the club’s VIP room on the night of June 22, 1988 and Terrell cursed at him. The argument spilled over into the parking lot and when Edmond allegedly gave a head nod, Little Nut Daniels came running towards Terrell with his gun drawn and shot him in the back as Terrell turned to flee. “Why are you doing this? I thought we were boys?,” Terrell asked Daniels as he lay dying on the concrete. According to eye witnesses, Little Nut said “see you in hell motherfucker,” and emptied his clip into Terrell at close range. Terrell was pronounced dead on the scene of the crime. Edmond crew soldier Donnell Winley was present on the scene that night and killed in a wild car-chase shootout on May 24, 1989. Winley was a prime suspect in the September 1988 D.C. drug world slaying of Edmond rival Clarence (The Monkey Man) Guy and it’s believed Edmond’s crew worried he was cooperating with the DEA. Edmond had Winley unsuccessfully confess to Terrell’s murder to DEA agents in hopes of Winley’s juvenile status (he was 17 at the time of the hit) getting him out of the charges and Daniels walking free. Federal records allege Daniels was subsequently gifted a $100,000 Mercedes-Benz as a reward for a job well done on the hit and a several Hoya players seen riding in the vehicle during the 1988-1989 Georgetown hoops season. Georgetown made it to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament that year. Edmond was at the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey to watch the Hoyas lose to Duke 85-77 on March 27 in the NCAA Regional Finals, with a berth to the Final Four on the line. Three weeks later, Edmond was arrested and off the streets for good. He was convicted of a drug case the next year, arrested again for dealing in prison shortly thereafter and by the end of the 1990s was working for the federal government in hopes for an out-date that has yet to arrive.
