Suge Knight handed down a 28-year prison sentence for manslaughter, shows no emotion
Knight, once one of the biggest names in hip hop, pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter, after running over two men after an argument and killing one of them. The victim’s family accused him of having no remorse for his crime
Marion “Suge” Knight was sentenced on Thursday 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 will now likely live out most, if not the rest of his life in a California prison. He showed no emotion in court as relatives of Terry Carter, the man he killed, described their loved one as a devoted family man and peacemaker.
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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 an NWA biopic, Straight Outta Compton, on which Sloan was serving as a consultant. Knight clipped Sloan with his pickup truck, seriously injuring him, before speeding through the car park and running over Carter and fleeing.
Some of Carter’s relatives said they hoped Knight’s lengthy sentence will bring them peace. Others had no kind words for the Death Row Records co-founder, who 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.
“I ask that you sentence this unrepentant, remorseless, cold, callous menace to society to the maximum of 28 years,” she told a judge.
Before Thursday’s hearing, Knight had already agreed to his lengthy prison term by pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter, avoiding a trial on charges of murder and attempted murder that could have resulted in a life sentence if he was convicted. The sentencing ended a nearly four-year court saga that included frequent outbursts by Knight, 53, who also collapsed in court during one appearance and shuffled his defence team 16 times.