FROM BEHIND BARS, SUGE KNIGHT RECALLS TUPAC’S FINAL MOMENTS AND AFENI SHAKUR’S HEARTBREAKING DECISION
From the confines of California’s Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, former Death Row Records boss Marion “Suge” Knight is a shadow of the powerful music executive he once was. Now 60 and serving a 28-year sentence for a fatal hit-and-run, Knight sat down for an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, sharing haunting memories of Tupac Shakur’s final days—and the mother who, he claims, made the hardest call of all.
The chaos of Las Vegas in September 1996 is seared into Knight’s memory. He was driving the BMW that night when gunfire erupted at a red light. Tupac, riding shotgun, was hit four times. Knight, bleeding from a head wound, managed to U-turn the car and speed toward help. Police arrived quickly. Knight was treated and released, but Tupac’s injuries were critical.
“When I saw him, he was talking,” Knight recalls. “Pac [allegedly] asked for blunts. Hennessy. We said ‘I love you’ like brothers. But then, the mood changed.”
According to Knight, the weight of the night’s violence and the looming threat of prison left Tupac emotionally crushed. He claims the rapper made a desperate plea to avoid what he feared most—returning to prison.
“‘Kill me. Shoot me,’ he told me. He wanted out. Not because he was weak—but because prison terrified him more than death,” Knight says. “He believed suicide would keep him from heaven, so he asked the only person he trusted with that decision—his mother.”
Knight alleges that Afeni Shakur, Tupac’s beloved mother and former Black Panther, ultimately tried to grant her son’s wish. “She gave him pills,” Knight claims, “trying to honor his request.”
Doctors at the hospital, according to Knight, managed to revive Tupac. But Afeni allegedly intervened. “She told them, ‘Don’t bring him back again. Let him go.’”
Tupac was placed in a medically induced coma. Days later, on September 13, 1996, he was pronounced dead at 4:03 p.m. He was 25 years old.
“I loved his mother. He loved mine,” Knight says, his voice quieter now. “But Pac’s mom loved him deeply. I miss him every day. I loved him more than I loved myself.”
While PEOPLE could not independently verify Knight’s claims, and family members of Tupac have not commented, his account adds another layer to the complex legacy of one of hip-hop’s most iconic and tragic figures.
Note: Allegations contained in this article reflect the statements made by Suge Knight during his interview and have not been independently confirmed.
