Suge Knight Will Serve Nearly 30 Years In Prison After Pleading Guilty To Manslaughter

After a four-year trial, Suge Knight pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for killing a Compton businessman. 

In Los Angeles Superior Court, the former rap mogul entered his plea and struck a deal with prosecutors by agreeing to serve 28 years in prison for running over and fatally killing Terry Carter. It has been noted that the jury selection for his trial scheduled to begin on Monday, could have led to a life sentence 

In 2015, Knight was charged with murder, attempted murder and a hit-and-run after fleeing the scene of a physical confrontation outside of a Compton burger stand. The Death Row Records co-founder and consultant of the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton, Cle “Bone” Sloan got into a physical altercation where they each traded a few punches before Knight clipped him with his pickup truck and ran over Carter, who was later pronounced dead from the injuries. 

Knight had claimed that he was acting in self-defense when he fled the scene where he ran over Carter and Sloan which he referred to as armed attackers. Sloan has denied carrying a gun on the night of the altercation. 

At Thursday’s hearing, Knight seen wearing orange jail attire quickly answered “no contest” when Judge Ronald Coen’s asked for his plea. The plea deal calls for Knight to serve up to 22 years in prison for the voluntary manslaughter and another six years for reaching his third violation strike.

In the courtroom, Carter’s daughter sat in the front row and displayed no reaction to the proceeding. “I’m surprised he pleaded out, normally he likes the cameras to be on him 24-7,” Carter said outside the court. 

The agreement will also absolve Knight for two other cases from 2014, where he was accused of stealing a camera from a woman and sending threatening text messages to Straight Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray.

The 53-year-old has had prior felony convictions for armed robbery and assault with a gun. In 1995, Knight was sentenced to five years probation for assaulting two rap entertainers at a Hollywood recording studio in 1992. He was also sentenced to prison in 1997 for violating terms of that probation for fighting at a Las Vegas hotel just hours before Tupac Shakur was fatally wounded in a drive-by attack while riding in Knight’s car.