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DETROIT (AP) - Proof, a member of rap group D12 and a close friend of Eminem, was shot to death early Tuesday at a nightclub along Eight Mile, the road made famous by the 2002 film that starred Eminem and in which Proof had a bit part.

The death of Proof - real name Deshaun Holton - was confirmed by Dennis Dennehy, the publicist for D12's label, Interscope Records, as well as by Detroit police spokesman James Tate.

"Memorial service arrangements are still being made, and his friends and family would appreciate privacy during this difficult time," Dennehy said in a statement.

Eminem and Proof, 32, seldom were seen in public without each other. Proof was the best man at Eminem's wedding in January, and they have been close friends since before Eminem became a superstar.

The music video for the Eminem song "Like Toy Soldiers" shows Eminem pacing a hospital hallway as doctors try to revive Proof, who has been shot. Later, Eminem attends Proof's funeral as the song's lyrics lament the escalation in violence between rappers.

It was Proof's idea to form D12, a six-member Detroit-based rap group that counts Eminem among its members.

D12 has been around since the mid-1990s, when the members met at Detroit's Hip-Hop Shop, a clothing store by day/hip-hop club by night.

Proof's family members gathered at a home on Detroit's northwest side after hearing the news of his death. The residential street in front of the two-story home was lined with vehicles, and people hugged each other on the sidewalk.

Proof was shot inside a small bar in a strip of businesses along Eight Mile, which is the dividing line between Detroit and its northern suburbs. Tate said two people were shot in the head - one fatally. He said an argument at the C.C.C. nightclub escalated into gunshots.

The other victim - a 35-year-old man - was listed in critical condition, Tate said.

Wende Berry, a spokeswoman for St. John Health System, said Holton was dead on arrival at St. John Conner Creek, an outpatient treatment facility. Berry confirmed that he had a gunshot wound.

Police said shots were fired inside the bar around 4:30 a.m. By the time officers arrived, both of the injured men had been taken from the bar in private vehicles, Tate said.

Evidence technicians and detectives remained inside the bar Tuesday morning. A spot of blood was on the street in front of the tavern, and police marked shell casings in a parking lot across the street.

Patrol officers said the bar is a frequent source of problems on the city's east side. Tate said police have taken 18 incident reports there since 1996. The latest was a vice raid in December in which six tickets were issued, most involving minors possessing or drinking alcohol.

The bar, he said, was legal, but was operating outside of its licensed hours.

Another member of Eminem's inner circle - rapper Obie Trice - was shot while driving on a Detroit-area highway in December.


Proof: shot and killed

RIP

Never listened to D12, but R.I.P Proof.

i just found dis out wgen i was on cnn.com r.i.p. proof

yea heard about it this morning

only good mc out of D12

Coupling this with his recent re-divorce of Kim, I think we can expect a new album from the old Slim Shady.


This sucks, Proof seemed cool as hell, kind of a laid back stoner guy who rapped pretty well.




R.I.P. Proof.

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/8348/surprise0ad.gif

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Its true.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


OMG This feels like I lost a boy.

Listening to him an Em freestyle is all me and my boys used to do in the car and at home during high school.

RIP Hampster Man.

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9923/sadwalk0hr.gif

lmao @ lost a boy

cmon...

i wasnt gonna say anything, but yeah taht was pretty funny

Suckage...

Are they gonna rename the "band" D10 now or find someone to replace him?

Originally posted by LanceWindu
Suckage...

Are they gonna rename the "band" D10 now or find someone to replace him? he's not the first member in the group to die. one of the other members died around 99' when they weren't popular.

Originally posted by -hh-
he's not the first member in the group to die. one of the other members died around 99' when they weren't popular.

Yeah, but weren't there still 6 of them with Eminem?

Em replaced Bugz (the first member to die).

So they were still the Dirty Dozen, now they aren't.

Yeah, I don't know if they'll change the name or not.

R.I.P.

Police Say Dead Rapper Proof Fired First

Wed Apr. 12

DETROIT - Rapper Proof fired the first bullet in a Detroit nightclub shootout that ended his life, police said Wednesday.

The bullet hit Keith Bender, 35, in the head, critically injuring him early Tuesday at the C.C.C., a bar in a strip of businesses along Eight Mile, the road made famous in Eminem's movie of the same name.

Proof, whose real name is Deshaun Holton, was taken to a nearby outpatient treatment center by a private car, where he was pronounced dead.

Detectives are currently trying to figure out who shot Proof, said Detroit police spokesman Sgt. Omar Feliciano. He said his office was told by homicide detectives that Proof fired the first shot at Bender.

Feliciano said no further information has been released.

Proof, 32, was a member of the rap group D12 and was the best man in Eminem's January wedding. Eminem was seldom seen in public without Proof.

Police said officers responding to 911 calls about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday found the bar empty when they arrived.

Bender also was taken to a hospital by a private car.

Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings said Tuesday that detectives don't know what Proof was doing at the bar, which was operating outside of its licensed hours. Investigators face a unique challenge because no victims were present at the crime scene, Bully-Cummings said.

Police have said that an argument between two parties at the club escalated into gunfire.

they might not rename the group, as eminem is retired and now proof dead they might just call it a day..
im gutted that he's gone.. R.I.P Proof. you tha man!!

I think it was one of Royce Da 5'9 entourage. On that Beef show they showed how Royce beef with D12 escalated to the point all of Royce's guards always had at least 3 guns on them.

R.I.P Proof you will be remembered.

R.I.P Proof

R.I.P. Proof, no matter what went down.

Originally posted by streekz
they might not rename the group, as eminem is retired and now proof dead they might just call it a day..
im gutted that he's gone.. R.I.P Proof. you tha man!!


eminem never said he was retiring

Proof had it coming. Bringing guns to any public place is beyond stupid.

Ooooh, watch what you say there Doc. People rahhhnd these 'ere pahrts don't take kaaahndly to the troof.

-AC

He cared more about being seen as "from the hood" and a gangster than tending to- and resultantly being there for- his family? Well then, deserved everything he got.

I feel sorry for his family. Though I'm sure his kids are proud that their daddy died being a thug. I would be. "Look at your dad, all dressed up in a suit, from the 'burbs." "Where's your dad? Oh yeah, underground, but like...actually under the ground." "At least he died a thug."

Comforting I bet.

-AC

Originally posted by Alpha Centauri
Ooooh, watch what you say there Doc. People rahhhnd these 'ere pahrts don't take kaaahndly to the troof.

-AC

cute

Originally posted by Roulette
cute

What's cute..? That article on my post? Wasn't meant to be..(cute)

Originally posted by FistOfThe North
What's cute..? That article on my post? Wasn't meant to be..(cute)

im guessing the thing quoted

what thing quoted..? She posted her comment right after mine. Unless she was referring to a comment before mine, which she should've directly replied to. (quoted)

w/e

Man Allegedly Shot by Rapper Proof, Dies.

DETROIT - A man who police say was shot by rapper Proof, just before Proof himself was killed, died of his wounds early Tuesday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Keith Bender had been in critical condition since being shot in the head a week ago at the CCC, a nightclub on Eight Mile Road, the boundary between Detroit and the northern suburbs.

Bender, 35, died early Tuesday, said Wende Berry, a spokeswoman for St. John Hospital and Medical Center.

Police have said witnesses told them that Proof, a hip-hop artist and friend of Eminem, shot Bender during a dispute at the after-hours club. Bender's cousin, Mario Etheridge, then shot and killed Proof, whose real name was Deshaun Holton, they said.

Etheridge, 28, has pleaded not guilty to charges of carrying a concealed weapon and discharge of a firearm in a building. His attorney, Randall Upshaw, said the shooting was in self-defense.

Proof, 32, was a member of the rap group D12 and was the best man in Eminem's January wedding. His funeral is scheduled for Wednesday.

did that dude really die

What goes around comes around...

Well two wrongs don't make a right...but he was playing with fire.

I said all this, but everyone chose to play Morality Squares.

He shot a man in the face and got shot FOR it. Got what was coming to him.

-AC

ya he did

Originally posted by FistOfThe North
what thing quoted..? She posted her comment right after mine. Unless she was referring to a comment before mine, which she should've directly replied to. (quoted)

w/e

what the crap...? o.o

I quoted A.C....can't you see that?

Another one bites the dust. I wont be crying.

One more useless rap criminal off the streets. The world is a better place now without that murderer.

Originally posted by jostopholees
One more useless rap criminal off the streets. The world is a better place now without that murderer. @ "one more useless rap criminal"

Originally posted by -hh-
@ "one more useless rap criminal"

What's so funny? He was a rapper and a criminal. FACT. The useless drain on society got what he deserved, and the world is a better place without him in it...FACT.

Originally posted by jostopholees
What's so funny? He was a rapper and a criminal. FACT. The useless drain on society got what he deserved, and the world is a better place without him in it...FACT.

u mad?

LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!

Well it's a fact that he was a rapper and a criminal.

-AC

Originally posted by Alpha Centauri
Well it's a fact that he was a rapper and a criminal.

-AC

BOO!!!

lmao

any proof? (pun intended fool)

Originally posted by P, that Dude
u mad?

LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!! Mad? Hell no, I'm ecstatic that such a drain on society and a disease to the human race such as proof is no longer here to infect the world.

Originally posted by P, that Dude
BOO!!!

lmao

any proof? (pun intended fool) Any proof?


He was a part or rap group d12, thus proving he was a rapper.

He unjustifiably shot and killed another human being, thus proving he is a criminal.

Originally posted by jostopholees
Any proof?


He was a part or rap group d12, thus proving he was a rapper.

He unjustifiably shot and killed another human being, thus proving he is a criminal.

where the hell do you live....

pressume innocence over guilt

Originally posted by P, that Dude
where the hell do you live....

pressume innocence over guilt Sorry, but there will be no trial. Witnesses said proof shot first, and the subsequent police investigation came to the same conclusion. He was PROVEN guilty by everything short of a criminal trial. Sorry

Originally posted by jostopholees
Sorry, but there will be no trial. Witnesses said proof shot first, and the subsequent police investigation came to the same conclusion. He was PROVEN guilty by everything short of a criminal trial. Sorry

my f*cking point...

case closed.

it's a fact that he was both a rapper and a criminal, but u made it seem like every rapper is such in ur past post.

P, I don't know if you noticed this, but shooting people in the face is frowned upon generally the world over and is viewed as a crime, because it's illegal.

Seeing as he did this, he is infact a criminal. Well, not "is". Was.

-AC

Originally posted by P, that Dude
my f*cking point...

case closed. Yes, proof was a murderer and got what he deserved. Case closed. Glad you finally agree.