Rap Mogul "Suge" Knight Rushed to Hospital Following Plea in Fatal Hit-and-Run

 

Hip-hop mogul Marion "Suge" Knight was taken to a hospital after suffering a medical emergency in a courthouse lockup after pleading not guilty to murder and other charges in a hit-and-run case, officials said.

Knight faced charges in court on Tuesday of murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run in the death of a man last week at a Compton burger stand. (Read here)

The next court date, a bail review hearing, is schedule for Feb. 9.

He pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning to four felony counts, which include murder in the death of 55-year-old Terry Carter, "attempted, willful, deliberate and premeditated murder" involving 51-year-old victim Cle "Bone" Sloan, plus two charges of hit-and-run. Knight's attorney, James Blatt, said Knight accidentally ran over the men as he tried to escape a vicious attack.

Knight was at the center of one of the most notorious rap conflicts of the 1990s, pitting Tupac Shakur against Biggie Smalls in an East Coast-West Coast rivalry. Knight was sent to prison for nearly five years for badly beating a rival with Shakur at a Las Vegas hotel, just hours before Shakur was fatally shot while riding in Knight's car just east of the Strip in 1996.

In the current case, Knight struck two men with his pickup in a Compton burger stand parking lot. The collision killed his friend Carter, a founder and owner of Heavyweight Records who was viewed as a local father figure and tried to help mentor young men in the community, said Doug Young, a friend and hip-hop music promoter. Also injured in the collision was Sloan, an actor and film consultant.

Authorities said Knight visited the set for "Straight Outta Compton," a film about the rise of the rap group N.W.A., and argued with Sloan, who was working at the location on Thursday. Sheriff's deputies providing security asked Knight to leave.

A short time later, the argument resumed in a parking lot a few miles away where Knight and Sloan exchanged punches through a window of the pickup before the two men were run down, authorities said.

Blatt has said Knight was attacked by four people, including Sloan, as he pulled into the parking lot after Carter requested he show up for a meeting. Blatt said Knight hit the gas and fled in fear.

...LosAngelesNews-SouthernCalifornia