2Pac, in the original version of the liner notes of his The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory album, accused Walter “King Tut” Johnson of shooting him at Quad Studios on November 30, 1994. Now, after 27 years behind bars for unrelated crimes, Johnson — who was named a person of interest in the investigation into the Quad shooting, but was never accused of being involved by authorities — is a free man.
The New York Times reported recently that Johnson, who was sentenced to five life terms in 1997 by a federal judge, was freed earlier this month by that same judge, Frederic Block, who had come to reconsider the decision made by his younger self.
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“Judges gain insights that with the passage of time only can come with experience on the bench and their judicial maturation,” Judge Block wrote in his decision to release Johnson, which he penned on October 16 but which was filed with the court a day later. “I now believe that my sentences, though lawfully rendered, were excessively harsh.”
Within days of his release, Johnson, a native of Brooklyn’s East New York neighborhood, was pictured with fellow East New Yorker Uncle Murda.
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“Welcome Home [King] TUT. Brooklyn East New York Legend,” Murda captioned a series of photos on his Instagram.
In other 2Pac news, the late rap legend’s brother Mopreme Shakur has cast doubt on Diddy‘s long-standing assertion that he had no involvement in 2Pac‘s murder.
Appearing on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Mopreme was asked about the decades-old rumors linking the Bad Boy boss to the 1996 shooting that claimed ‘Pac’s life, citing a controversial 2008 Los Angeles Times article that was later retracted, as well as comments from 50 Cent and Eminem.
Morgan read out Diddy’s statement to the outlet denying the allegations (“The story is a lie. Neither I nor [The Notorious B.I.G.] had any knowledge of any attack on 2Pac before, during or after it happened”) before asking Mopreme: “Do you think that was an honest statement?”
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“My opinion is that I don’t believe it was an a hundred percent honest statement,” Shakur replied.
When asked more directly if he thinks Diddy was lying when he made that statement, 2Pac’s sibling said: “Quite possibly. It’s kinda looking that way, in my opinion.”
