“Suge” Knight Hospitalized Due to “Anxiety Attack” After Plea in Fatal Hit-and-Run

The co-founder of Death Row Records is accused of attempting to run down a friend and another man at a Compton burger stand after a film set argument

Hip-hop mogul Marion "Suge" Knight was taken to a hospital after suffering a medical emergency in a courthouse lockup after pleading not guilty to murder and other charges in a hit-and-run case, officials said.

Knight faced charges in court on Tuesday of murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run in the death of a man last week at a Compton burger stand. Details regarding the medical condition, which a sheriff's deputy described as an "anxiety attack," were not immediately available.

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An ambulance followed by sheriff's department vehicles transported Knight from the Compton courthouse. An official with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said he remained in the hospital Tuesday afternoon.

Attorney David Kenner spoke with Knight in the courthouse lockup.

"I saw him in the morning both before court and after court," said Kenner. "He's doing fine."

Knight's next court date, a bail review hearing, is schedule for Feb. 9.

Prosecutors filed charges Monday against the 49-year-old Knight, co-founder of Death Row Records. He is accused of attempting to run down a friend and another man Thursday at a burger stand after an argument that began on a film set.

"He feels bad that somebody that he knew is deceased," Kenner said. "It's not his fault."

He pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning to four felony counts, which include murder in the death of 55-year-old Terry Carter, "attempted, willful, deliberate and premeditated murder" involving 51-year-old victim Cle "Bone" Sloan, plus two charges of hit-and-run.

Sloan suffered a concussion and a crushed lower leg, said his attorney Michael Shapiro.

"A 165-pound guy against a car, I don't think it's much of a fair fight," Shapiro said.

Knight attorney James Blatt said Knight accidentally ran over the men as he tried to escape a vicious attack.

Knight turned himself in early Friday at the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department West Hollywood Station. Because a conviction in the case could result in Knight's third serious felony under California's three strikes sentencing law, Knight could face up to life in prison if he's convicted.

Knight's $2 million bail was revoked Monday after a court commissioner agreed with authorities that he was a potential flight risk and could intimidate witnesses. The ruling came after homicide detectives told the bail commissioner that Knight could face a lengthy prison sentence because of a violent criminal past, said Los Angeles County sheriff's spokeswoman Nicole Nishida.

Knight had been out on bail in a separate robbery case when the men were hit.

Knight was at the center of one of the most notorious rap conflicts of the 1990s, pitting Tupac Shakur against Biggie Smalls in an East Coast-West Coast rivalry. Knight was sent to prison for nearly five years for badly beating a rival with Shakur at a Las Vegas hotel, just hours before Shakur was fatally shot while riding in Knight's car just east of the Strip in 1996.

In the current case, Knight struck two men with his pickup in a Compton burger stand parking lot. The collision killed his friend Carter, a founder and owner of Heavyweight Records who was viewed as a local father figure and tried to help mentor young men in the community, said Doug Young, a friend and hip-hop music promoter. Also injured in the collision was Sloan, an actor and film consultant.

Authorities said Knight visited the set for "Straight Outta Compton," a film about the rise of the rap group N.W.A., and argued with Sloan, who was working at the location on Thursday. Sheriff's deputies providing security asked Knight to leave.

A short time later, the argument resumed in a parking lot a few miles away where Knight and Sloan exchanged punches through a window of the pickup before the two men were run down, authorities said.

Blatt has said Knight was attacked by four people, including Sloan, as he pulled into the parking lot after Carter requested he show up for a meeting. Blatt said Knight hit the gas and fled in fear.

NBC4's Nyree Arabian contributed to this report.

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