Rapper Proof Slain in Detroit

Proof, member of the rap group D12, was killed early Tuesday morning during a shooting at a Detroit club on Eight Mile, according to the Associated Press. The incident left another man critically injured. Both were taken to St. John Hospital where Proof, was announced dead on arrival. Proof, whose real name is DeShaun Holton, 30, was set to work on his third album.

According to a spokeswoman for the Detroit police, Proof was shot in the head after a fight erupted around 5 a.m. at C.C.C., a bar in a Eight Mile Road strip mall on Detroit’s northern edge. The rapper was rushed to Holy Cross Hospital in a private vehicle, but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Police say an investigation is underway and no suspects have been named. As of this morning, investigators were still casing the bar and its surroundings looking for anything that might aid them in the case.

Proof, whose real name is Deshaun Holton, was a close friend of fellow Detroit native Eminem and a member of the rap group D12. He also had a small role in Eminem’s semiautobiographical movie Eight Mile.

A posting on D12’s Web site, D12 Online, says, "Memorial service arrangements are still being made, and (Proof’s) family and friends would appreciate privacy during this difficult time. Arrangements for fan remembrances are being planned, the details will be posted on Proof’s official site, IronFistRecords.com."

Proof’s murder comes four months after another member of Eminem’s entourage, Obie Trice, suffered minor gunshot wounds after coming under fire on Detroit’s Lodge Freeway on New Year’s Eve. Proof also served as Eminem’s best man in January, when he swapped vows again with high school sweetheart, Kim Mathers. The rappers were good friends, with Proof also appearing in Slim Shady’s blockbuster semiautobiographical film, 8 Mile, as Li’l Tic, the wordsmith who smacked down Em in an early rap battle. And in a tragic coincidence, Proof played a murder victim in the Eminem video "Like Toy Soldiers," with Eminem and members of D12 attending his funeral.

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See also: Proof artist page