Clifton E. Terry III, a Flint, Michigan-based rapper publicly known as Cliff Mac, has been charged for allegedly paying a man $10,000 to kill a woman. A federal grand jury issued an indictment charging the 31-year-old with counts of murder-for-hire resulting in personal injury, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire resulting in personal injury, and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Murder-for-hire is a federal crime in which a defendant pays or promises to pay something of economic value to a person in order that they murder someone, when doing so has an effect on interstate or foreign commerce. Traveling interstate, using a telephone, or using the internet are common means of affecting interstate or foreign commerce.
The murder for hire statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1958, provides for three different penalties depending on the facts of the case: if a person is actually killed, the penalty is life in prison or the death penalty and up to a $250,000 fine; if a person suffers personal injury, the penalty ranges from zero to 20 years in prison and/or a fine; and lastly, if there is no death or serious injury, the penalty ranges from zero to 10 years in prison and/or a fine.
Cliff Mac allegedly hired Andre D. Sims in November 2020 to kill an unnamed woman for $10,000. On November 27, 2020, Sims traveled from Grand Rapids to Flint, where he obtained a vehicle. In the early morning of November 28, 2020, Sims drove to the victim’s residence in Sterling Heights and parked across the street. When the victim left her residence several hours later, Sims approached her vehicle and fired seven to eight gunshots at the victim. Despite being shot multiple times, the victim survived. The shooting was captured on the victim’s home security system. After the shooting, Sims drove to a nearby apartment complex, where he abandoned his vehicle. Shortly thereafter, Terry picked Sims up from the apartment complex. Terry later agreed to pay Sims $2,500 for the failed hit. According to court documents, Sims then took a flight from Detroit to Washington, D.C.
Sims was sentenced earlier this month to life in prison for killing a 65-year-old woman. Terry has been charged separately with the August 2021 killing of Devaroe Davis. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison on the murder-for-hire charges and faces up to life in prison on the firearm charge.
