Teen nabbed in death of Shakur witness
November 14, 1996
Teen nabbed in death of Shakur witness
By Cathy Scott
LAS VEGAS SUN
A teenager suspected of killing a key witness in the Tupac Shakur murder has been arrested by police in Orange, N.J.
The 16-year-old boy, whose name was not released because he is a minor, was arrested at 10 p.m. Wednesday in Irvington, N.J., Orange Police Capt. Richard Conte said. A second suspect, a 17-year-old, “will be turning himself in today with his attorney,” Conte said.
Yafeu Fula, 19, was shot once in the head and found slumped in a third-floor hallway of a housing project about 3:48 a.m. Sunday in Orange, Conte said.
Metro Police Lt. Larry Spinosa said today that Fula “was the only person in the (Shakur) entourage who made a statement to us that he could possibly identify the shooter. Now he’s gone.”
But he said Fula “wasn’t coming forward anyway. We didn’t know where he was until he turned up in New Jersey dead on Sunday.”
Spinosa said that after talking with Metro Police, Fula went to the attorney for Death Row Records, David Kenner. “All our contacts after that were from Kenner in California,” Spinosa said.
Fula was a member of Shakur’s backup group, the Outlaws Immortalz, who toured with Shakur. Fula was sitting with bodyguards in the car behind Shakur’s when the gangsta rapper was shot Sept. 7.
Shakur, one of rap’s most successful and notorious singers, was shot four times near the Strip following the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon boxing match. He died six days later.
Police say they have received little cooperation from Shakur’s entourage, which included Fula.
Fula was taken to University Hospital in Newark, N.J., where he died Sunday afternoon, Conte said.
Conte said police do not believe the killing was connected to Shakur’s homicide.
“It has nothing to do with Las Vegas as far as we can determine,” he said.
Kenner also represents Marion “Suge” Knight, the head of Death Row Records, which was Shakur’s label. Knight was driving with Shakur in a rented BMW on East Flamingo Road when Shakur was gunned down by a shooter in a white late-model Cadillac. No suspects have been arrested.
“We wanted Fula to look at a photo lineup, and the attorney would say he would get back to us, and he never did,” Spinosa said. “As far as the investigation is concerned, it really does not change the status in the case at all. It’s an open investigation, however, at this point we’ve reached an end to fresh leads.”
Police said Shakur and Fula were close friends, not relatives. But in Shakur’s obituary in “Billboard” magazine, Fula’s mother, Yaasmyn Fula, was listed as Shakur’s aunt.
Related posts:
Lack of a witness aids Tupac’s killer
Police Ask for Public’s Help in Shakur’s Shooting
5 charged in death of potential witness to Harbor Gateway teen’s slaying
Suspects Arrested In Killing Of Shakur Murder Witness
Shakur shooting witness found dead in N.J.
Tupac Shakur’s poems as a teen released
Tupac Shakur and the death of gangsta rap;
The death of Tupac Shakur one year later
A Death as Real as It Gets; Tupac Shakur’s Gangsta Image Was the Rapper’s Fatal Flaw
Posted by 
Puff Daddy ordered this hit for the Crips. No way it’s not connected.