Suspect arrested for aspiring rapper’s shooting death outside Manhattan housing project

A suspect has been arrested for the shooting death of an aspiring rapper outside Manhattan housing project, police said Wednesday.

Osvaldo Marrero was arrested Tuesday for murder and gun possession.

He allegedly killed 44-year-old Anthony “Ant” Holley the night of Nov. 27. outside the Chelsea Houses on W. 17th St. near Ninth Ave.

“They came up to him and shot him in the back of the head,” the victim’s distraught sister Tashey Holley told the Daily News at the time.

Holley was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he died.

“Everyone who knew him loved him,” the sister said. “He helped out anybody.”

The victim was an aspiring rapper and had an 18-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter.

Police have been trying to determine if his record — he had 16 arrests and served four prison terms for selling drugs — had caught up with him.

His sister wouldn’t talk about his past, noting he was working odd jobs and was determined to pursue a career recording rap music.

“He was in the studio saying he wanted to take it serious this time and pursue it, until this happened,” she said.

Marrero, 34, who lives in East Harlem, has about a dozen prior arrests, police said. The motive for the slaying was not clear Wednesday.