Investigators in Detroit have found that the man who shot and killed Rapper Proof acted in self defense and he will not face murder charges, according to the Detroit Free Press. Club bouncer Mario Etheridge shot Proof after he allegedly fatally wounded Etheridge's cousin, Keith Bender, at the C.C.C. Club on Detroit's 8 Mile Road. Etheridge has been charged with carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and firing two shots in the air inside a building, but he will not be charged in the killing. He is set to appear in court on Friday for a final conference related to the gun charges.
The Detroit Free Press says that prosecutors in the case released a timeline of what happened at the club. It says that Etheridge and another man intervened in an argument between Proof and Bender, and Bender threw the first punch after Proof asked him to take the argument outside. Soon after, Proof got a gun from another man and shot Bender.
Meanwhile, Bender's family has already filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Proof's estate, claiming the Rapper "violently assaulted and battered [Bender], culminating with the infection of a gunshot injury that caused the death of Mr. Bender," according to AllHipHop.com.