News

Family of Slain Man Sues Proof's Estate

More than four months after the nightclub shootout that left Detroit rapper Proof and a 35-year-old Army veteran dead, the family of that Army vet, Keith Bender, is suing Proof's estate, claiming that the dead rapper was liable for attacking and fatally wounding Bender.

This is the second suit Bender's family has filed against Proof and his estate. The first suit was dismissed, but since then a Wayne County prosecutor also dismissed charges against Mario Etheridge, the man who shot and killed Proof, saying that he acted in defense of Bender.

The fight between Proof -- real name Deshaun Holton -- and Bender started in the early hours of April 11 at the CCC Club on Detroit's Eight Mile Road. Bender, a veteran of the first Gulf War, was out celebrating news that he'd overcome some health issues, when he got into an argument with Proof that escalated to a fistfight and culminated with Proof pulling out a gun and shooting Bender once in the head. According to eyewitnesses, Proof was preparing to shoot Bender again when he was himself fatally shot by Etheridge, who worked at the club as a bouncer. Proof died later that morning; Bender lingered in a coma for a week before dying of his wounds.

The CCC Club remains closed in the wake of the shootings. --The ARTISTdirect Staff
08.23.06