Minister Who Married R. Kelly to Aaliyah When She Was 15

As the federal racketeering trial of R. Kelly continues in New York, the minister who married the embattled singer to the late R&B songstress Aaliyah in Chicago in 1994 was called to testify.

Despite numerous requests for Nathan Edmond, an ordained minister from the Chicago area to speak through the years, he only admitted what he knew under subpoena at Kelly’s trial.

At the time of the marriage, according to the testimony of Kelly’s former tour manager, Demetrius Smith, Kelly was 27 and Aaliyah was just 15, according to Rolling Stone magazine. They provided false documents that she was three years older. This falsification, Smith testified, was intended to show that she was actually a legal adult of 18, thus able to consent to marriage.

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Edmond says that Kelly pressured him to sign a non-disclosure agreement about the wedding, but he refused.  CNN reports that the minister had a feeling the papers weren’t in order.  “I kind of chuckled. (Kelly) asked me why did I do that (chuckle). I said it wasn’t worth the paper it was written on. … It should have been … more airtight.”

While Edmonds didn’t sign anything from the Kelly camp, he did testify that he gave his word that he wouldn’t mention anything about the wedding. 

Neither defense nor prosecution questioned the minister about any thoughts on the age of the bride. Edmonds did notice that he wasn’t able to see Aaliyah’s entire face.

CNN reports that he testified, “You couldn’t see her whole face because her hair was over half of her face.”

Aaliyah’s personal style showed her typically wearing dark sunglasses and covering her face with her hair in many of her videos and appearances.

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Prosecutors say the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer’s marriage to Aaliyah is central to the racketeering charges against Kelly.  They argue that it speaks to his and his team’s repeated illegal activities designed to give the singer access to underaged children. Kelly’s legal team insist he was not the ringleader of a criminal enterprise and that he is not guilty of the racketeering charges he is on trial for.

Edmond says he’d never met either bride or groom until the time he was officiating their marriage ceremony.  He testified that he was asked by a mutual friend of his and R. Kelly’s to perform the wedding.