A New York judge has ordered rapper 50 Cent to
hold onto a property where a suspicious fire destroyed his $2.4 million home
where his ex-girlfriend and their young son lived.
Shaniqua Tompkins, the former girlfriend of rapper 50 Cent,
whose real name is Curtis Jackson, had been living in the singer’s Long Island
home, valued at $2.4 million, with their 11-year-old son, Marquise.
Early in the morning of May 30, a fire broke out that police
have said is being investigated as suspicious. The house was not empty when the
flames started spreading – six people, including children, were treated for
smoke inhalation. Tompkins had to save herself by way of a window, her lawyer,
Paul Catsandonis, said.
It appears Tompkins and 50 Cent had figured out an
arrangement for the home, namely that the ex-girlfriend pay monthly rent.
Tuesday, State Supreme Court Justice Carol Edmead ordered 50 Cent to not sell
the house.
He also ordered Tompkins to pay the rapper $4,500 in rent by
Friday for the month of May, the Associated Press reports. She receives $6,700
a month in child support from the rapper, of which $4,500 is housing allowance.
The house has recently been a motive for dispute between the
former lovers, as Tompkins, 32, sued the rapper earlier this year, claiming he
had broken an oral agreement they made years ago, according to which he would
give her half of his earnings for life.
Tompkins is accusing 50 Cent of deliberately setting the
blaze. Outside of court Tuesday, she said the 32-year-old rapper had threatened
earlier that week, before the house was destroyed in the fire. The rapper’s
lawyer, Brett Kimmel, denied the charges, explaining that his client was in Louisiana at the time of
the incident, filming for a movie.
While the love between 50 Cent and Tompkins has gone sour,
their financial issues may come to a satisfactory conclusion yet. Judge Edmead
ordered the Grammy nominated entertainer to place any insurance funds he may
receive into a trust account pending the conclusion of the $50 million lawsuit
filed against him by Tompkins.
The two are due back in court on July 15.