Man Shot Dead In First 'Twitter Murder'

An online war of words could become key evidence in an upcoming trial for what has been dubbed the first "Twitter murder".

Kwame Dancy, who was studying to be a nurse, was fatally shot in the neck on December 1 close to his home in Harlem, New York.

His childhood friend Jameg Blake was arrested two days after the killing and has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge.

Tweets exchanged by the pair, both 22, on the microblogging site could prove crucial to the murder trial, according to reports.

The men are said to have fallen out over a girl and become increasingly hostile to each other in the run-up to the shooting.

Their angry tweets - with friends also contributing - are thought to have inflamed the situation and could feature as evidence at the trial.

Hours before his death Dancy posted the following message, interpreted by some as directed at Blake: "n***** is lookin for u don't think I won't give up ya address for a price betta chill asap!"

The victim's mother Madeline Smith said she was shocked that the pair's online arguments could have played a role in her son's death.

"That's not a reason to shoot somebody," she told the New York Daily News. "That's crazy. I don't know what's going on with that Twitter thing."

She said of her son: "He said, 'Mommy, I'm going to be a nurse.' And look at this - we'll never know how far he would have gone. His dream was snatched from him, over foolishness."

via Man Shot Dead In First 'Twitter Murder' - Yahoo! News UK.