Voletta Wallace, mother
of slain rapper Notorious B.I.G., dismissed Amir Muhammad, the man she accused
of shooting her son, from a wrongful death lawsuit.
According to the
Los Angeles Times, Wallace had named Muhammad as the triggerman who shot her
son to death as he was stopped at a red light in Los Angeles, after attending
an after-party for the Vibe Awards in 1997.
Muhammad has repeatedly
denied that he was the shooter and offered to take a lie-detector test.
Despite facial
qualities that resemble a composite sketch of the shooter that police drew from
witness reports, Muhammad has never been questioned about the murder of B.I.G.
The dismissal of
Muhammad could have far reaching implications for the case, as he was central
figure in the wrongful death lawsuit.
Wallace claimed
that former Los Angeles Police Department officer David Mack hired Muhammad
on Marion “Suge” Knight’s urging, to shoot her son.
Without Muhammad,
reports said it will be difficult to prove that there was a conspiracy among
the LAPD to help gun down her son.
The LA Times report
said that a confidential settlement was reached between the two parties, but
no money was exchanged.
Wallace is still
suing the city of Los Angeles and David Mack, a former police officer and member
of the Bloods street gang, who was convicted of bank robbery and is currently
serving a 14-year prison sentence.
Wallace offered
to settle the case out of court for $105 million, but that figure was reduced
to $18 million, which was rejected last month by City Council, according to
the LA Times.
The case was postponed
earlier this month and the judge issued an order to conduct the trial in three
phases.
In the first phase,
attorneys for Wallace must prove that Mack was responsible for hiring Muhammad,
despite no murder weapons or witnesses linking Mack to the shooting.