28 years in jail caps downfall of Suge Knight
Los Angeles: Marion “Suge” Knight was sentenced to 28 years in prison for mowing down and killing a Compton businessman in a case that completed the former rap music mogul’s downfall from his heyday as one of the biggest – and most feared – names in the music industry.
Knight, 53, will now likely live out most, if not the rest, of his life in a California prison.
He showed no emotion in court on Thursday as relatives of Terry Carter, the man he killed, described their loved one as a devoted family man and peacemaker.
Carter was killed after Knight and one of his long-time rivals, Cle “Bone” Sloan, started fighting outside a Compton burger stand in January 2015.
Knight was upset about his portrayal in the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton, which Sloan was serving as a consultant on.
Knight clipped Sloan with his pickup truck, seriously injuring him, before speeding through the parking lot and running over Carter and fleeing.
While Carter’s relatives said they hoped Knight’s lengthy sentence will bring them peace, many had no kind words for the Death Row Records co-founder, whom they criticised for showing a complete lack of remorse.
Carter’s daughter Crystal called Knight a “low-life thug”, “career criminal” and “a disgusting, selfish disgrace to the human species”. — AP