Chaka Khan’s endured several struggles in her life, but she’s oftentimes publicly owned up to her mistakes and we greatly respect that about her. In 2006 though, Chaka ended up having to pay for her son, Damien Holland’s, mistake and so did her mother, Sandra…when a judge ordered all three of them to cough up some major money in a wrongful death lawsuit. It all started after Damien (then 25) killed his friend, Christopher Bailey (17), in 2004. Chaka has discussed this tragedy several times in interviews, but see how she and her Mom got tied up into the situation below…
WHAT HAPPENED THE DAY OF THE SHOOTING
During Damien Holland’s 2006 murder trial, he confessed to shooting his friend, Christopher Bailey, in the face with an M-16 assault rifle, as they argued about Christopher allegedly having an affair with Damien’s girlfriend. But Damien was adamant that he shot him by accident and that his intention was never to shoot his friend. Damien was acquitted of all charges after the jury heard the testimonies from him; his mom, Chaka; and others’ during the trial. However, there is more to this story…
PARENTS SUED CHAKA & FAM’ BECAUSE THEY REPORTEDLY DIDN’T BELIEVE THEIR STORY
According to Chaka’s son, Damien, he shot his friend, Christopher, inside of Chaka’s Los Angeles, CA home in Sept. 2004, which is where Damien was also living at the time. L.A. newspaper, Daily Breeze, reported that Christopher Bailey’s parents believed Chaka and others excluded pertinent info from their testimonies that they think could have gotten Damien convicted. So Christopher’s parents ultimately filed and won a $1.3 MILLION lawsuit against Chaka; her mom; and son, Damien, for negligence and wrongful death of their son (although it’s still not crystal clear how or why Chaka’s mom was incorporated into this). Here’s what was reported:
Via DailyBreeze: Since the trial, [Glen] Newton [Christopher’s dad] has grown to believe that many of the witnesses – including Khan – lied about the circumstances surrounding Bailey’s death, possibly because they feared repercussions from crossing Holland and Khan.
[Christopher] Bailey’s parents sued Khan, Holland, Khan’s mother and Khan’s company in September 2006, alleging wrongful death and negligence.
Khan’s mother, Sandra Coleman, settled with Bailey’s family for $500,000, court records show, although the family contends that was only half of what they agreed to. Superior Court Judge Bob Hight approved a default judgment against them in November for more than $1.3 million, plus interest, according to court records.
We’re not sure if Chaka and Damien paid their portion of the judgement, but there are no further claims from Christopher’s family stating that they didn’t pay. But there’s more…
CHAKA’S SON’S ‘CONFLICTING STORY’ BROUGHT OUT AT TRIAL
During Damien’s murder trial, he acknowledged why he gave conflicting stories to police:
Via Today – During questioning by his attorney, [Damien] Holland admitted he made up a story about the gun going off during a struggle with Bailey. Holland also said he persuaded friends to lie to the police and had a friend punch him in the face to make it appear he had fought with Bailey. “I didn’t see any way out of the situation,” Holland said. “I felt terrible,” said Damien.
This entire situation is extremely sad, and Chaka once described it as a “living nightmare.” Hopefully, Christopher Bailey’s family has been able to find some peace after his death.
