Lil’ Kim’s ex boyfriend could be getting the death penalty

Rapper Lil' Kim's ex boyfriend, who was once accused of sparking a gun battle with 50 Cent in her honor, could be facing the death penalty.

Damion (World) Hardy - who once lived with Li' Kim and was even reportedly engaged to her - is being tried for the brutal execution of a gang rival. And now the U.S. Justice Department has given prosecutors the go-ahead to seek the death penalty against him if he is found guilty in Brooklyn, New York.

Hardy, 33, is accused of being the leader of a murderous drug crew called Cash Money Brothers. He is also alleged to have sparked a gun battle with 50 Cent after confronting the rapper for dissing his love Lil' Kim on a radio show.

He is being tried for the murder of Ivory Davis, who was shot twice as he sat in his car outside Club NV in New York - then himself killing a pedestrian, Swedish filmmaker Johan Camitz, as he tried to drive off.

The accused gunman, Eric (E-Bay) Moore, is also facing the federal death penalty for the August 2000 killings. Hardy and Lil' Kim once lived together in her New Jersey mansion. He drove around in a Land Rover she gave him and the couple were believed to be engaged, a law enforcement source said.

Hardy, who served time for shooting at narcotics cops, had a fearsome reputation in the Brooklyn nighbourhood where his crew controlled the drug trade, law enforcement officials said.

In 2003, police say he confronted rapper 50 Cent in a New Jersey hotel parking lot, sparking a gunfight after the rapper dissed Lil' Kim on the radio.

Hardy's lawyer claims he has undergone a religious conversion since those wild times, legally changing his name to Isa Ibn Jibril.

Last week, a federal judge ordered Hardy to undergo a psychiatric exam to determine if he is competent to stand trial on federal racketeering and murder charges. "I am the Christ. I am the Messiah," Hardy ranted in court in 2004 after he was arrested at JFK Airport as he returned from a religious pilgrimage in the Middle East.

"Do not be the one to go against the law," he went on. "Adhere to the law's command before I give you warning. A day that is drawing near. A day of grief and regrets. Boiling water will be poured over your heads."

Defense lawyer David Ruhnke refused to say if Lil' Kim would be asked to testify at the penalty phase of the trial if Hardy is convicted.

A representative for Lil' Kim could not be reached for comment.

"He's become a very devout Muslim," said Ruhnke.

"He maintains his innocence and the government does not allege that he personally killed any of the victims in the case."