NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Police arrested two Irvington teen-agers in
the killing of a member of rapper Tupac Shakur's entourage who had
witnessed his fatal shooting, authorities announced.
The two were charged with murder and weapons offenses in
connection with the slaying Sunday of Yafeu Fula, 19.
Authorities declined to release the suspects' names because they
are juveniles. A 16-year-old boy was charged Thursday and a
17-year-old boy was charged Wednesday, authorities said.
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, authorities said. He was taken to University Hospital in
Newark, where he died Sunday afternoon.
Authorities were still investigating the reason for the shooting
Thursday.
"It doesn't appear at this time to be involved with the Tupac
Shakur killing," Orange Capt. Richard Conte said.
Fula was a member of Shakur's backup group, the Outlaws
Immortalz, who toured with the rapper. Fula was sitting with
bodyguards in the car behind Shakur's when the rapper was shot
Sept. 7 in Las Vegas.
Shakur, one of rap's most successful and notorious singers, was
shot near the Las Vegas Strip following the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon
boxing match.
The investigation into Shakur's death had been hindered by
uncooperative witnesses, including Fula.
One of the boys charged in Fula's death had been under arrest at
the Essex County Youth House in Newark on another charge when
authorities charged him in the killing, Conte said. Conte did not
know details of the boy's original arrest.
The other suspect turned himself in to the Essex County
Prosecutor, Conte said.
Both boys were remanded to the Youth House on Thursday.
November 15, 1996
Suspects Arrested In Killing Of Shakur Murder Witness