In 1993, Calvin Broadus, a.k.a. Snoop Dogg, was charged with first degree murder
after a member of a rival gang was shot and killed by his bodyguard. McKinley Lee
McKinley fired shots from Snoop's car. So how did Snoop find himself with a murder charge?
Despite being one of the biggest selling rappers at the time?
It was recently announced that 50 Cent is producing a series
about Snoop's arrest and trial for first degree murder called murder was the case, Snoop said.
I'm very excited to finally tell the story of murder was the case.
This was a pivotal moment in my life and career,
and I've deliberately waited until I found the right partner to bring this to the screen. You
were now about to witness the strength of street knowledge. This was a huge trial at the time
MTV covered it, and the courtroom scenes and verdict were on camera at the time
. Snoop had just released his debut album, which was climbing up the charts. Of course,
the publicity of the trial did a lot for the sales of his music. The album went on to sell
over 5 million copies. one of the most popular songs on the album
was Murder was the case, which was also turned into a short film
. Snoop had brushes with the law at an early age. He was arrested for a lot of
charges related to drug possession. His drug charges led to repeated stints in prison.
Going to prison at such a young age was, of course, a setback.
But it's where he started to write music, writing about his issues and his troubles that he faced
every day. He started off making music with Warren G. And Nate Dog. They were in the group 213. They
crashed a party with Dr. Dre was going to be and managed to get him to listen to one of their tapes
. But the label was mainly interested in Snoop. It was disappointing for the others,
but they encouraged him to go for it and the rest is history.
Of course, the others went on to be successful too, so it all worked out.
Snoop was represented by Johnnie Cochran, legendary defense attorney
known for representing O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson.
In an interview with Cam Capone News, Snoop's former bodyguard, McKinley described the
events that led up to that fateful night. An altercation ensued outside Snoop's apartment
in Los Angeles one summer afternoon between gang members and Shawn Abrams, Snoop's friend.
We heard some commotion downstairs and I'm thinking, I know Snoop didn't
go outside without me, so I heard some drama. Immediately, I grabbed my gun and I'm getting
downstairs because I heard some drama. But as I was going down the stairs, Snoop was behind me.
I stopped at the end of the stairs and I see a guy leaning out of a car.
He can't see me, and he's just barking back and forth
with one of the guys. McKinley saw that the guy had a gun and it was poking out of the car window.
But Snoop was safely inside and the guy hadn't spotted him. So he made Snoop go back upstairs
and didn't see any further danger thinking that was the end of it.
McKinley and Snoop decided to make a trip to the studio to continue work on his debut album.
Snoop was driving, but remembered he had forgotten a recording device.
Remember, this was the early nineties, so artists and producers carried around a lot of equipment.
So at that time, there was no threat, you know? Snoop was right here.
It wasn't. It wasn't anything. It was just real quick, you know, so I
immediately I take off and I get Snoop upstairs. So we rushed him upstairs
trying to calm everybody down. The situation was diffused.
So now it is time to, you know, we got to get back to the studio, actually get to the studio.
And so as we get to get in the truck and we start going down the road. Somebody hit you,
Hey, man, we forgot the dat player. I'm like, we've got a dat player. The dat player at the
time was a recording device that we were using to record the music on the hard drive it was, it was
all the music was held on the dat player. Snoop made a U-turn
and headed back towards the apartment. They saw someone standing in the middle of the street
trying to flag them down. The person explained something about one of the guys needed medication.
But as we're coming down the road, we see somebody in the middle of the street kind
of flagging us down. And I remember the guy leaning on the back seat,
but I remember the front. The duty was like a heavyset guy.
He had a heavyset face, you know, so I remember that it was a quick scan. I remember the face
and the guy. And so he's flagging us down the middle of the street. So Snoop kind of pulls over.
He's like, Oh man, I'm sorry, dawg It's my fault. It's my fault. But he just I remember
him saying he just didn't take his medicine. He's tripping. I'm sorry that I remember that
to this day. He didn't take his medicine, will come to find out that he was diabetic.
Right? And then on, sometimes now that I know that with the diabetes and possibly drinking and
all these other things, you become agitated and you do other things right. And after all of this,
I realize that that may have prompted him to the things that he did and why he reached.
Not that. I don't know. I'm just I'm looking for answers myself because before they knew it, a guy
emerged from the bushes. McKinley noticed that the bushes were fluttering and out pops a gangbanger.
Philip Little's Smoove Waldomariam McKinley tried to approach him, but was pushed away.
Then, he said, the guy lifted up his shirt and exposed a gun. Then he reached for it. When I saw
him start to reach, that's when I took my gun and I fired. There was like a little incline.
My hope was I wanted to hit him in the lower part of his body. So as I'm aiming, he's turning. And
as I'm aiming here, I fire. When he was turning, he got hit in the hip and in the shoulder blade.
Unfortunately, the one that went through his hip went through him and his shoulder.
He takes off and he runs. We find out that when he ran, he dropped about 50 or 75 yards away.
He dropped right there. And that's unfortunately when he died.
Snoop's bodyguard McKinley regretted killing Little Smoove,
but it was his job to defend his client. And clearly there was a threat. They called the
authorities and their lawyers advised him to wait for legal advice before doing anything.
But in the meantime, little Smoove friend scooped up the gun.
So when the police arrived on the scene, it was nowhere to be found. So it looked like
they had killed an unarmed man after we made the call. We had to wait for all the attorneys,
so the next day they came, and that's when we were going to turn ourselves in.
We didn't turn ourselves in the next day. We had to wait. So we waited until everything
calmed down. Snoop and McKinley did end up turning themselves in, but they still went
to the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards. Snoop was at the MTV VMAs and they came to arrest him.
I wasn't. So I had to wait until everything died down, and that's when we decided it was best.
Police had already known what was going on because we said we were going to turn ourselves in.
McKinley and Snoop were both charged with first degree murder and headed to trial in 1995.
It was eventually discovered that little Smoove's friend, Jason London, had hidden
the gun. Both Snoop and McKinley were acquitted on February the 20th, 1996. When you look back at
footage of the verdict, it's obvious that Snoop is overwhelmed with relief after the acquittal.
He vowed to stop rapping about murder and glorifying gang violence. On my second album,
The Dog Forever, when I beat my murder case, I redirected my pen to write life
because I felt like I had wrote death all up until that point.
When I started writing The Doggfather I lost a lot of fans.
I lost a lot of homies because they wanted me to keep it gangsta. After beating the
murder case that they wanted me to glamorize and glorify, but I was like, somebody's life was lost.
My life was changed. This is a real situation.
So apparently, some fans were disappointed with his new direction. But the album reached number
one on Billboard and in the R&B charts, selling around 2 million copies. No as much as the first,
but I'm sure he was thankful to not be facing a murder charge with this album.
During Snoop's trial, other artists appeared to show their support, including Devonte Swing,
Tupac Shakur, M.C. Hammer and, of course, Suge Knight, editor in chief of Rap Pages magazine Sina
Lester, said. We mourn for the Waldomariam's, but we're thrilled that Snoop won't be going to jail.
Snoop is a kind and gentle brother. I hope this trial told people that there was nothing glamorous
about gangsterism. I hope that it helps people to separate the music, which is cool from the
reality, which is not. Do you think the music can be separated from the reality?
After all, many rappers live out the same fate as the stories they portray in the music.
The case really highlighted the debate of whether gangsta rap contributed to
gang violence, drug abuse, mistreatment of women and other destructive pursuits.
Or was it simply a reflection of what went on in real life? According to the verdict,
Snoop's bodyguard was acting in self-defense despite his acquittal. I'm sure the trial was a
up call for him to cut off all gang affiliations and focus more on being a recording artist.
Not many street dudes get the same opportunity. He came so close to losing everything, all from
a lifestyle that leads to nothing but prison or death. Speaking of the new project, 50 Cent said
murder was the case is an incredible story.
Snoop had the biggest album in the country and was fighting for his freedom
in the courtroom. The only place to go on this incredible ride is with G-Unit film
and television. I'm excited to be working with Snoop to bring it to television today.
As well as a rapper, Snoop is an entrepreneur and a TV personality.
He famously partnered with fellow convicted felon Martha Stewart, filming Martha's and Snoop's
Potluck Dinner Party. He has his own production company and a legal cannabis business.
Will you be watchin 50 Cent's new series based on Snoop's infamous trial when it was finally
filmed and released? They are currently looking for writers. So we'll see how it progresses.
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