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D12 rapper Proof was fatally shot on the morning of April 11, 2006 in a Detroit club that was illegally operating after hours. The Detroit native, born DeShaun Holt, was just 32 when he was killed.

After an altercation broke out during a game of billiards at the CCC Club on 8 Mile Road in Detroit, Michigan, Proof was shot four times and killed on site. A pool game between him and Keith Bender turned into a heated argument, which then escalated into a physical altercation. An inebriated Proof shot at Bender right before Bender’s cousin and club bouncer Mario Etheridge shot at the rapper, killing him instantly, with two to the head and two to the back. Bender died in the hospital a week later.

Much is to be said about Proof, a Detroit legend who, according to loved ones,  cared for others through help and guidance. He used his fame to work for the benefits of local musicians, and  fervently cultivated one of Hip-Hop’s greatest lyricists of all time – lifelong comrade, Eminem.

In honor of Proof’s death anniversary, we’ve compiled a brief list of little  known facts about the Hip-Hop notable who left the world and the culture far too soon. Flip the page for more. May he rest in peace.


Photo: WENN/GETTY

1. He attended private school.

Proof attended Gesu private school in his youth before enrolling at Osborn High on Detroit’s east side.

2. Formed his first rap group with his friends Thyme and Mudd.

The 5 Ela  later included the “influential Goon Sqwad,” Stylz, Trick Trick and DJ OC.

3. Proof served as the best man at Eminem’s wedding.

He also appeared in Eminem’s autobiographical film 8 Mile. Proof was Eminem’s very best friend and is, to this day, credited for helping mold him into the rapper he came to be.

4. Became famous for emceeing at designer Maurice Malone’s Hip Hop Shop.

Proof would freestyle on Saturday afternoons against local and national talent, including the Notorious BIG, Method Man and the like.

5. His first television appearance was in the video for Aaliyah’s “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number.”

Filmed in Detroit, Michigan in November 1994, the black and white visual featured cameos by Proof alongside Bizarre from D12 and Aaliyah’s brother.

6. The media portrayed Proof as a cold-blooded killer.

Proof’s lawyer, David Gorosh, accused the police and the media of being “reckless” for suggesting that his client fired the first shots without having any concrete evidence. It was later determined, amid conflicting reports, that a number of parties were involved in the heated argument that escalated into an all out brawl, that included Keith Bender and his cousin Mario Etheridge.

7. Proof’s murderer was merely fined.

Mario Etheridge, the man who shot Proof four times – twice in the head and twice in the back – was sentenced by Judge Vera Massey Jones to time served (days during the trial)  and  was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine for discharging a firearm in a building.  Etheridge was found guilty of the charge as well as one count of carrying a concealed weapon, but prosecutors decided not to charge him for the actual killing after they determined that he acted in a lawful manner in defense of his cousin Keith Bender (see Michigan law).

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