D12, local MCs cope with the slaying of a Detroit hip-hop legend
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At around 4:30 a.m., Proof and another patron got into an argument over a pool game. Witnesses say that Proof pulled out a gun and hit Keith Bender Jr., a Desert Storm veteran, in the head with it before shooting him once in the face. With Proof’s gun still pointed at Bender’s bloody body, Mario Etheridge — Bender’s cousin and the club’s bouncer — shot the rapper three times, once in the head and twice in the chest. He was dead on arrival at St. John Hospital. Bender died eight days later as a result of his injuries.
Etheridge turned himself in to police the day after the shooting. Two days later, Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy charged him with carrying a concealed weapon and discharge of a firearm in a dwelling or occupied structure. Though Worthy did not charge Etheridge with Proof’s murder, she added, “Our investigation in this case is far from over.”