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TRIAL DATE SET FOR BOUNCER IN PROOF SHOOTING: Lawyer for Mario Etheridge says client was simply protecting the lives of others.
*A lawyer for the bouncer who witnesses say shot and killed D12 rapper Proof in Detroit’s CCC nightclub continues to proclaim that his client’s actions were done to protect the lives of other patrons.
Mario Etheridge, charged with carrying a concealed weapon and discharging a firearm in an occupied building, waived his preliminary examination Wednesday morning on the two felony counts, reports the Detroit Free Press. The case will now go to trial in Detroit's 36th District Court, unless a plea bargain can be reached .
Etheridge, who was released from jail after posting bond, could be sentenced to nine years in prison if convicted.
Witnesses say Etheridge shot Proof three times – once in the head and twice in the chest – after the rapper pistol-whipped then shot Etheridge's 35-year-old cousin, Keith Bender Jr. After spending a week in critical condition, Bender died of his injuries.
Outside of court, Etheridge’s attorney, Randall Upshaw, told reporters that his client was only acting to protect the lives of the other patrons. He added that Etheridge was unarmed when he arrived at the club, and must have either been handed a gun or grabbed someone else’s gun during the altercation that led to Proof’s shooting. Upshaw also said that Proof had argued with another man before the incident with Bender, and the rapper used one of his friends’ guns to shoot Bender.
The Wayne County prosecutor's office is currently waiting for ballistics evidence. The guns used in the shooting have not been recovered.
