Suge Knight has agreed to pay $1.5 million to the family of Terry Carter, the man he ran over and killed in 2015 with his truck outside a Compton burger stand. The former Death Row Records CEO appeared in court via video from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, where he’s serving a 28-year sentence, to finalize the settlement.
Under the agreement, Carter’s widow and two daughters—Nekaya and Crystal—will each receive $500,000, bringing the wrongful death case to a close and preventing a retrial that was set to begin jury selection on April 30.
Knight’s former attorney, David Kenner, had been attempting to withdraw from the case, but Knight moved forward regardless, citing his respect for Carter and his desire to spare the family more pain.
“Terry was a friend of mine. It definitely wasn’t done intentionally,” Knight told Rolling Stone following the court appearance. “I didn’t want to put the family through more pain. It’s not that I did anything wrong. I never would have. But I do owe the family an apology because of this thing they had to go through.”
Knight ran over Carter during a confrontation on the set of the Straight Outta Compton film in 2015, after getting into a dispute with another man. Carter died within the hour. Another man who was also hit suffered serious injuries, including two broken ankles and a head wound.
Carter’s widow didn’t hold back when reflecting on the years since the tragic incident: “It’s hard living without him when I lived all those many years with him. It’s been very, very difficult. I’ve been in pain ever since January 29, 2015. I haven’t had one good day.”
While she said she was not satisfied with the outcome, she made it clear why she was ready to end the legal fight. “I don’t want to give him another opportunity to put on a clown show and act like a bitch. Maybe somebody will shank him in jail.”
Knight is not eligible for parole until October 2034.
