Former rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight and co-founder of the wildly popular Death Row Records label has pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter for running over and killing a Compton businessman nearly four years ago. Knight entered the plea in Los Angeles superior court and has agreed to serve 28 years in prison. The plea came days before jury selection was scheduled to begin in the long-delayed case.
Knight was accused in January 2015 of running over two men, killing one of them, during an argument.
Knight had faced one count of murder for the death of Terry Carter and one count of attempted murder in the case of Cle "Bone" Sloan, who was maimed after Knight allegedly struck the pair with his truck.
There was video of the incident that shows a truck driven by Knight. It pulls into the entrance of a Compton restaurant near the site where the movie "Straight Outta Compton" was filmed, and the driver is approached by Sloan, a security guard.
The two men appear to talk for a few moments, with Knight still in his vehicle. Suddenly, the vehicle backs up, knocking Sloan to the ground. While still in reverse, the truck moves out of range of the security camera. The vehicle is then seen zooming forward, back into camera range, running over Sloan a second time, and then running over a second man, Carter, a former rap music label owner. Carter later died.
The defense previously argued Knight was defending himself because Sloan had a gun. The maximum penalty for voluntary manslaughter in California is 11 years in prison, but that would double because of prior convictions under the state's three-strikes law, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said.
Knight faces another five years because the conviction is for a serious and violent felony and one year for a deadly weapon allegation involving the truck he used.