Family of Man Shot by Proof Sues His Estate

The family of Keith Bender, the man shot by D12’s Proof moments before the rapper was fatally wounded, has filed a second lawsuit against the D12 member’s estate, according to the Detroit Free Press. According to authorities, Proof and Bender got into an altercation at the CCC club on Detroit’s 8 Mile Road on April 11, which quickly escalated when Proof drew a gun and pistol-whipped Bender before shooting him in the face. Mario Etheridge, Bender’s cousin and a bouncer at the club, then fired at Proof several times, killing him. Prosecutors later charged Etheridge with carrying a concealed weapon and discharging a firearm in a building, but not for the actual shooting of Proof, saying he acted in lawful defense of Bender. The new lawsuit, filed on Tuesday (August 22) in Wayne County Circuit Court does not specify an amount. A similar lawsuit filed by Bender’s mother and widow in May was dismissed.