Where Is Suge Knight Now? Inside the Music Executive’s Career and the Death That Sent Him to Prison for 28 Years By Makena Gera

Marion “Suge” Knight won’t be eligible for parole until 2034.

The Death Row Records founder was sentenced to 28 years in prison after pleading no contest to a 2015 hit-and-run that killed businessman Terry Carter.

Before and during his music executive career, managing artists like Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre, Knight’s image was characterized by run-ins with the law, including for alleged use of guns and assault.

He was also allegedly connected to one of the longest and most debated mysteries in hip-hop: the deaths of Tupac and the Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace.

Though he has been in custody for nearly a decade, Knight hasn’t been far from the public eye. From behind bars, he has spoken out about his case and the charges against his music label rival, Sean “Diddy” Combs. In turn, Knight has been mentioned in the Netflix docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning, which premiered on Dec. 2.

Knight filed to appeal his conviction — an attempt that a Los Angeles County judge shot down in March 2025 — and remains in prison until he is eligible for parole in 2034.

So, where is Suge Knight now? Here’s everything to know about the music executive’s career and the 2015 car collision that put him behind bars.

Who is Suge Knight?

Knight grew up in Compton, Calif., in the 1970s, and was a star on the football field before gaining notoriety in the music industry.

After playing football in college, he attended training camp with the Los Angeles Rams and played in two NFL games in 1987, according to Andscape. Knight eventually shifted his career to music, working as security for rapper Bobby Brown before starting his own music management business.

In 1991, Knight founded his famous Death Row Records with Dr. Dre after he left N.W.A. The two built Death Row’s rap empire, signing Snoop Dogg, MC Hammer and Tupac in the mid-’90s.

Notably, Death Row Records was involved in a lengthy feud with East Coast label Bad Boy Records, which was run by Combs and featured talent like the Notorious B.I.G.

While building his career in the music industry, Knight faced repeated run-ins with the law, including for alleged gun possession and assault — and sometimes he faced fines and charges.

Over the years, there were also deaths that some claim are linked to Knight and his label, including the alleged murders of Tupac and Biggie amid feuds. Although Knight was rumored to be involved in both cases, another suspect was arrested in Tupac’s death, and Knight has not been charged in connection with either case.

Duane “Keefe D” Davis pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the Tupac case and claimed in a 2008 police interview that Combs ordered hits on Knight and Tupac. Knight recalled the night while speaking to PEOPLE in July 2025, revealing that he helped Tupac into an ambulance and was by his side at the hospital, where he later died.

Davis is set to go to trial in February 2026, per ABC News.

What other legal troubles did Suge Knight face before his current incarceration?

Knight’s career has been marred by repeated crime and violence.

In 1992, he was involved in an incident in which he beat men at gunpoint, per the L.A. Times, for which he received a five-year suspended sentence.

In 1996, he began serving five years of a nine-year sentence after beating a man at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

In 2002, Knight served two months in jail for violating parole by associating with gang members in L.A., followed by another parole violation in 2003 for punching a parking attendant, according to The Independent.

While at an MTV VMAs party hosted by Kanye West in August 2005, Knight was shot in the leg, per Rolling Stone. In August 2014, once again at a pre-MTV VMAs party, Knight was shot six times.

In October 2014, he was arrested for stealing a camera from a photographer and pleaded not guilty, just months before his fatal hit-and-run collision that killed Carter.

Why is Suge Knight in prison?

In October 2018, Knight was sentenced to 28 years in prison after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter for a January 2015 hit-and-run incident that killed businessman Carter.

The incident happened on the set of a commercial for the N.W.A biopic, Straight Outta Compton, on Jan 29, 2015, following an argument between Knight and N.W.A member Cle “Bone” Sloan.

In order to keep the peace, 55-year-old Carter offered to be a mediator and met Knight at Tam’s Burgers to talk through the issue, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Carter’s wife. When Sloan also arrived at the restaurant, tensions ran high.

A fight allegedly erupted between Knight and Sloan, who exchanged punches before Knight drove his Ford F-150 Raptor truck at Sloan and Carter, per a police homicide report cited in the Los Angeles Times. Carter died at the scene, and Sloan recovered after being taken to the hospital.

Following the hit-and-run incident, Knight was arrested and charged with murder, attempted murder and two counts of hit-and-run.

Knight’s lawyer told the L.A. Times that Knight was attacked at the restaurant by four men, allegedly including Sloan, and was fleeing for his life when he ran over Sloan and Carter.

The wrongful death lawsuit, though, alleged that the death was the preventable result of a dangerous work environment, claiming that filming for Straight Outta Compton took place in areas known for violent gang activity without any security to prevent incidents. The suit also blamed long-standing tensions between Knight and N.W.A members involved in the filming, as a reason for the fatal altercation.

Knight was set to stand trial by jury in October 2018 — facing life without parole if convicted — but shortly before the trial, Knight entered a plea of no contest, per CBS News.

His plea resolved two other pending criminal cases: an indictment for making criminal threats in August 2014 and charges for stealing a photographer’s camera in September 2014, which he and co-defendant comedian Katt Williams were set to be tried for.

Knight was sentenced to 28 years in prison — 22 years for voluntary manslaughter count, one year for deadly weapon allegations and five years for the crime being a “third-strike” violation for Knight.

When will Suge Knight get out of prison?

Knight is currently serving his 28-year sentence at the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego until he is eligible for parole in October 2034, per inmate records.

In March 2023, Knight filed a petition to appeal his sentence. He claimed that his conviction was “unlawfully imposed,” and he and his lawyer both claimed that he was “coerced” into a plea deal from his public defender at the time of the trial (and Knight’s 14th lawyer on the case), who they claim was “not prepared” for the trial, according to Rolling Stone.

However, his appeal was denied two years later, in March 2025. An L.A. County judge stated that Knight took too long to file his motion, per Rolling Stone. In the ruling, the judge noted that Knight’s claims of coercion lacked any basis.

In June 2022, Knight also stood trial in that wrongful death civil lawsuit filed by Carter’s family, which ended in a mistrial when jurors couldn’t meet the nine votes needed to declare a verdict, according to CBS News.

The case was scheduled for retrial, and after several delays, Knight reached a deal with Carter’s family, agreeing to pay a $1.5 million settlement in April 2025, Rolling Stone reported.

Where is Suge Knight now?

Today, Knight remains in prison, serving out his 28-year sentence until he is eligible for parole in October 2034.

Despite being incarcerated, Knight has continued to remain in the public sphere. In October 2023, Knight started a podcast Collect Call with Suge Knight, addressing  many of his feuds and commenting on current events, including claiming Snoop Dogg didn’t purchase ownership of Death Row Records, per Billboard, which Snoop Dogg denies.

Knight has also experienced various health issues. Before his imprisonment, Knight was shot multiple times, including once in August 2005 and six times in August 2014.

In March 2015, Knight collapsed in court when a judge ordered that he be held on $25 million bail, according to TMZ.

Later that year, Knight claimed that he was receiving inadequate medical treatment while in custody, per the Miami Herald, and suffered from blindness in one eye and blood clots. At the time, he was hospitalized for multiple days, TMZ reported.

In September 2018, Knight’s son, Suge Jacob Knight, told TMZ that he was concerned about his father’s death, noting that his father deserved “a break” from the criminal justice system, which he believed had treated him unfairly.

More recently, Knight has spoken about Combs’ sex trafficking case, for which he was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution but acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering, and sentenced to four years in prison.

“If you’re going to make [Combs] answer, make everyone answer … change the theme of the culture of the problems in hip-hop,” Knight told ABC News in June 2025. “I think it’d be a great thing to let [Combs] tell his truth. Tell the real truth, and bring everybody accountable.”