Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight remained in the Men’s Central Jail today on suspicion of murder, awaiting a scheduled Tuesday court appearance.
Knight was scheduled to appear in court sometime after 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. His attorney, James Blatt, has said his client was not expected to make his $2 million bail until today at the earliest.
Knight, 49, allegedly ran over two men with a pickup truck, reportedly twice, at 2:55 p.m. Thursday. The incident, at a Compton burger stand, left Terry Carter, 55, dead and a second man injured.
Lt. John Corina, a sheriff’s homicide detective, told reporters that investigators believe Knight intentionally struck the men and was not acting out of a reasonable fear.
Corina told reporters Knight had gotten into an argument at a film shoot for a promotional video for “Straight Out of Compton,” a biopic on the Compton rap group N.W.A.
Knight was told to leave but the argument resumed about 20 minutes later at the eatery roughly three miles away from the video shoot.
The web site TMZ.com reported that surveillance cameras at the Tam’s Burgers crime scene were broken and that cameras at a nearby bank, drug store and a competing fast-food outlet were pointing away from the crime scene. Sheriff’s deputies, however, have said they have video of the dispute.
Knight’s lawyers have told reporters their client was protecting himself while being slugged as he sat in his pickup truck’s cab. Detectives said Knight intentionally drove over Carter and two men, hitting Carter in two separate vehicular attacks.
Knight co-founded Death Row Records.
