ATLANTA (AP) — Rapper Ludacris’ manager is facing a manslaughter charge in Atlanta in connection with a June shooting.
The Atlanta Police Department said Chaka Zulu, whose legal name is Ahmed Obafemi, pleaded guilty to the charges on Tuesday. Atlanta newspapers reported that he was released on bail the same day. Police said they also obtained warrants charging him with aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and simple battery.
Gabe Banks, the longtime music executive’s attorney, issued a statement expressing his disappointment with the prosecution’s decision. Banks said the evidence clearly shows Zulu, who was injured in the incident, was defending himself while being attacked by at least four other people in the June incident.
Zulu was among three people killed June 26 in a shooting in a Buckhead neighborhood parking lot. One person died.
Banks’ statement said Zulu was defending himself with a firearm he is licensed to carry.
“Mr. Zulu is not afraid that someone died, but if Mr. Zulu had not defended himself legally, Mr. Zulu would have been killed that night,” the statement said.
Artez Benton, 23, who was described by his family as ambitious, hard-working and devoted to his family, was killed in the June shooting. “He did the right thing,” his father, Artis Benton, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the shooting. “I never thought this would be the end for him.”
