A county prosecutor in Detroit says the man who shot and killed rapper Proof in a nightclub shootout acted lawfully in defense of another man, but must still face weapons charges in the incident.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy made her comments Tuesday regarding the April 11 incident, in which Proof, born Deshaun Holton, also shot Etheridge's 35-year-old cousin Keith Bender.
Worthy has said that Etheridge, who was working security at the club, fired a gun while trying to defend Bender during the altercation at CCC, an after-hours club on Detroit's Eight Mile Road.
"The evidence clearly shows that Mario Etheridge acted in lawful self-defense of another when he shot Deshaun Holton," Worthy said at a news conference. "Once the gunshots started, everything happened fairly quickly."
She said Etheridge fired at the ceiling twice to stop Proof before aiming the gun at him.
Etheridge’s lawyer, Randall Upshaw, has said that 32-year-old Proof — who died with a blood alcohol level of 0.32 percent (four times the level considered drunk under Michigan law) — became confrontational during a game of pool. The man he argued with stopped to speak to him on his way out, Upshaw said, and Proof then argued with Bender and later returned with a gun, pistol-whipped Bender and shot him in the face.
Etheridge then took a gun from someone during the attack and fired it in defense of Bender, Upshaw said. But witnesses, according to Worthy, said Etheridge had two guns on him.
He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and unlawfully discharging a firearm in a building. His final pretrial court date is scheduled for Friday. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison on the concealed weapon charge and four years on the discharging a firearm count.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy made her comments Tuesday regarding the April 11 incident, in which Proof, born Deshaun Holton, also shot Etheridge's 35-year-old cousin Keith Bender.
Worthy has said that Etheridge, who was working security at the club, fired a gun while trying to defend Bender during the altercation at CCC, an after-hours club on Detroit's Eight Mile Road.
"The evidence clearly shows that Mario Etheridge acted in lawful self-defense of another when he shot Deshaun Holton," Worthy said at a news conference. "Once the gunshots started, everything happened fairly quickly."
She said Etheridge fired at the ceiling twice to stop Proof before aiming the gun at him.
Etheridge’s lawyer, Randall Upshaw, has said that 32-year-old Proof — who died with a blood alcohol level of 0.32 percent (four times the level considered drunk under Michigan law) — became confrontational during a game of pool. The man he argued with stopped to speak to him on his way out, Upshaw said, and Proof then argued with Bender and later returned with a gun, pistol-whipped Bender and shot him in the face.
Etheridge then took a gun from someone during the attack and fired it in defense of Bender, Upshaw said. But witnesses, according to Worthy, said Etheridge had two guns on him.
He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and unlawfully discharging a firearm in a building. His final pretrial court date is scheduled for Friday. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison on the concealed weapon charge and four years on the discharging a firearm count.
