Associate of Marion ``Suge'' Knight wanted for attempted murder

Wednesday November 27, 2002

LOS ANGELES (AP) An arrest warrant has been issued for an associate of rap music mogul Marion ``Suge'' Knight who allegedly attempted to kill a gang rival, authorities said.

Timothy McDonald, 34, remains at large after Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies said that they saw him prepare to shoot a suspected gang member in Compton last month. Two deputies said they saw a vehicle pull up to the man on the street and McDonald then pointed a handgun at the gang member, according to the deputies' report.

McDonald and a driver fled when they saw the deputies. McDonald, who told deputies he worked for Knight's Tha Row Records, was arrested after a short pursuit, but later released. An arrest warrant was issued Tuesday.

A special sheriff's task force has been investigating a string of shootings, primarily involving members of Blood gang factions. McDonald is one of its gang members, according to a sheriff's report.

Earlier this month sheriff's investigators raided Knight's Beverly Hills record label office and his homes in connection with a pair of unsolved homicides. Three men were charged with conspiring to kill Eric Daniels on June 7. Authorities believe Daniels was shot in retaliation for the April killing of Alton McDonald, 37, a former production manager at Knight's record label and a brother of Timothy McDonald.

Investigators allege that Timothy McDonald was attempting to retaliate for the Oct. 16 murder of Henry Smith, 33, a Tha Row Records employee. Smith designed the firm's logo, a hooded man in an electric chair. The identity of McDonald's target was not immediately known.

Knight and his record label have been enmeshed in an East Coast-West Coast rap feud that some believe was behind the unsolved murders of rappers Tupac Shakur in 1996 and The Notorious B.I.G. in 1997.

Knight is not a suspect in any of the gang killings, authorities said.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)