Detroit, Michigan

From the Detroit Free Press of May 30, 2006

No murder charge for man who shot rapper Proof, prosecutor says

The man who shot and killed Detroit rapper Proof acted in self defense and will not face murder charges, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Tuesday.

Mario Etheridge, 28, shot Proof, whose real name is Deshaun Holton, after Proof allegedly shot and killed Etheridge’s cousin, Keith Bender Jr., a U.S. Army veteran.

“The evidence clearly shows that Mario Etheridge acted in lawful self-defense of another when he shot Deshaun Holton,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Tuesday.

The C.C.C. club on 8 Mile was the place where Proof, 32, a close friend of Eminem and a member of the rap group D12, was shot three times in the head and chest after a fight about 4:30 a.m. April 11 -- more than two hours after the club was required by law to close.

Before his death, Proof, shot the 35-year-old Bender, police said. Bender died a week later.

Etheridge, who prosecutors said shot Proof, was charged last month with gun felonies, but not with the killing. Police said Etheridge, a bouncer at the bar, shot Proof after the rapper shot Bender in a fight over a pool game.