Keith L. Bender Jr., a 35-year-old male Army veteran, was involved in a fatal altercation in the early morning hours of April 11, 2006, at the C.C.C. nightclub on 8 Mile Road in Detroit, Michigan. A dispute over a game of pool escalated into a physical fight between Bender and Deshaun Holton, the rapper known as Proof. The confrontation turned violent when Holton produced a handgun, pistol-whipped Bender, and then shot him in the head. Bender was transported to St. John Hospital and Medical Center, where he remained in critical condition for a week before succumbing to his injuries on April 18, 2006.
Immediately following the shooting of Keith Bender Jr., his cousin, Mario Etheridge, who was working as a bouncer at the club, intervened. Witness accounts state that Etheridge, in an effort to protect his cousin, fired at Holton. Proof was struck multiple times and was pronounced dead upon arrival at a nearby hospital.
Etheridge turned himself in to the authorities in the days following the incident.
The investigation into the double shooting led to legal proceedings for Mario Etheridge. He was not charged with the murder of Proof, as authorities determined he acted in lawful defense of another person. However, Etheridge did face charges for carrying a concealed weapon and for discharging a firearm inside a building. He was ultimately found guilty of these charges and was sentenced to time served and a fine. The primary suspect in the death of Keith L. Bender Jr., Deshaun Holton, died at the scene of the altercation. In the weeks following the deaths, Bender's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Holton's estate and made public pleas for peace to avoid any further retaliation.
