Rapper Marion “Suge” Knight is charged with murder and attempted murder in connection with an incident in which prosecutors say he ran over two men in a California parking lot, killing one of them.
Knight has been 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 49-year-old faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if found guilty.
The murder charge against Knight stems from an incident that began when he and two other people began arguing in the car park of a burger shop in downtown Los Angeles, authorities say.
Knight ‘did nothing wrong’
According to the sheriff’s department, Knight and another man began throwing punches at each other through the window of the rap producer’s Ford F-150 Raptor pick-up truck before Mr Knight put the vehicle in reverse, knocking one of the victims to the ground.
Knight then pulled forward, running over the first victim and striking the second, before leaving the scene, authorities say.
One of the two victims was identified as 55-year-old Terry Carter, who died later in hospital.
Knight’s attorney, James Blatt, has said Mr Knight was attacked in the parking lot and did nothing wrong.
In November, Knight pleaded “not guilty” to a criminal charge stemming from accusations that he stole a camera from a celebrity photographer outside a Beverly Hills studio. He was later released on bail.
A few months earlier, Knight was shot and wounded inside a packed West Hollywood nightclub along with two others during a party in advance of the MTV Music Video Awards.
Knight owns Death Row Records and is well-known for glamorising gangs through ferocious lyrics – and even his “electric chair” company logo.
Death Row Records was a leading rap label in the 1990s, featuring artists such as Dr Dre, Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg.