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 Knight, the 49-year-old co-founder of influential hip hop
label Death Row Records, was charged with one count each of
murder and attempted murder, and two counts of felony
hit-and-run, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
said.
The music executive, who faces a maximum sentence of life in
prison if found guilty, was taken into custody on suspicion of
murder on Friday after surrendering to Los Angeles County
Sheriff's deputies. He was expected to make an initial court
appearance on Tuesday.
According to sheriff's officials, the murder charge stems from
an incident that began when Knight and two other people began
arguing in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant in Compton,
south of downtown Los Angeles.
Knight and another man began throwing punches at each other
through the window of the rap tycoon's Ford F-150 Raptor pickup
before he put the vehicle in reverse, knocking the man to the
ground, the sheriff's department has said.
Knight then pulled forward, running over one victim and striking
the second before leaving the scene, according to the sheriff's
department. One of the victims, identified as 55-year-old Terry
Carter, later died.
Knight's attorney, James Blatt, could not be reached for comment
on Monday, but has told local media that Knight was attacked in
the parking lot and accidentally ran over the two men as he fled
in fear.
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Earlier on Monday, a Los Angeles County bail commissioner revoked
Knight's bond at the request of sheriff's investigators, who argued
he was a possible flight risk and candidate for California's
three-strike rule, which gives stiffer sentences to those previously
convicted of serious felonies.
Knight, who has served time in prison for violating terms of past
sentences, was also considered at risk of intimidating witnesses,
according to the sheriff's department.
Knight's hip hop empire, which was instrumental in popularizing rap
and included successful artists such as Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre and
Snoop Dogg, began to decline after his jail stints, the shooting
death of Shakur and Dr. Dre's departure from the label.
He was shot and wounded at a Los Angeles nightclub last year.
Knight pleaded not guilty in November to a charge stemming from
accusations he stole a camera from a celebrity photographer and was
free on bail in that case at the time of the parking lot
altercation.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Peter Cooney
and Eric Walsh)
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