Rapper Dex Osama poured champagne on his girlfriend inside a Detroit strip club shortly before he was fatally shot, according to testimony in the case today.
Chantell Sturdivant, the girlfriend, testified she was working at Crazy Horse on Michigan Avenue in the early hours of Sept. 7 and was getting ready to dance for a man in the crowded club.
But first Sturdivant said she looked at Dex Osama, her boyfriend, an up-and-coming rapper whose legal name is Byron Cox, and he signaled her not to dance for the person they both knew.
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Rapper Dex Osama confirmed dead in strip club shooting
When Sturdivant walked up to Osama, he poured champagne on her and told her to get dressed, appearing angry, she testified.
"When he poured the champagne on me, I ran to the back," she said as she spoke in the packed Detroit courtroom.
Her testimony was part of the preliminary examination for two men charged with Osama's slaying. The hearing, held before 36th District Judge Kenneth King, will determine whether the defendants proceed to trial on felony charges.
Otis Davis, 46, faces charges of open murder, possession of a firearm by a felon and felony firearm. Dietrick Odums, 31, was charged with assault with intent to murder, possession of a firearm by a felon and felony firearm.
Detroit police have said two groups of men got into an argument in the club at some point and it moved outside. Osama was shot, collapsed at a gas station nearby and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
Another person arrived at a hospital with a gunshot wound from the same incident several hours later, police said.
Sturdivant testified that she heard one shot while in the dressing room soon after the champagne incident but didn't see who fired it.
Odums' attorney, Marlon Evans, said his client didn't shoot Osama and was "merely present at the scene of the incident."
Davis' attorney, Todd Perkins, said it's too early to comment on a possible defense for his client.
Records show Davis was previously convicted of second-degree murder in 1989. Chris Gautz, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections, said Davis had a 20-year minimum sentence in that case, was paroled in 2012 and discharged from parole last year.
Osama, 21, was shot outside the strip club about 1:30 a.m.
Maria Miller, a spokeswoman with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, said the facts will come out as the prosecution presents its case in court.
Sturdivant said she didn't know whether Osama had a gun the night he was shot, but she said she had seen him with weapons in the past. The two had been dating since April, and the night of the shooting was the first time Osama saw her work, she said.
Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Michael Reynolds told the judge he plans to call several officers to testify in the case. It is scheduled to resume Oct. 30.
Testimony: Dumped champagne came before rapper's slaying
