DETROIT, April 17 (UPI) -- The attorney for the man accused of killing Detroit rapper Proof says his client acted to save the lives of others.
Mario Etheridge, 28, of Detroit, pleaded innocent in Detroit District Court Saturday to carrying a concealed weapon and discharging a firearm in an occupied dwelling or structure charges, the Detroit News reported.
The courtroom was empty and the defendant entered his pleas via closed-circuit TV.
During Saturday's brief hearing, attorney Randall Upshaw said Etheridge, a bouncer at club CCC, shot and killed Proof early Tuesday morning after the rapper shot Keith Bender Jr. in the head. Etheridge and Bender are cousins.
"(My client) grabbed a gun to stop someone from killing someone else," he said. "He's not guilty."
He said Etheridge, who has no history of violence, transported his critically injured cousin to the hospital and reported the shootings to police.
Bond for Etheridge was set at $70,000 with the next hearing set for April 26. He has not been directly charged with the death of the D-12 rapper who recently was best man at the wedding of Eminem.
