Police: Rapper Dex Osama fired gun before he was killed

Rapper Dex Osama was the first person to fire a shot at a Detroit strip club the night he was killed, according to testimony in a Detroit courtroom today.

Surveillance video captured the scene outside Crazy Horse on Michigan Avenue leading up to the fatal shooting of Osama, whose legal name is Byron Cox. Several angles were played in court during a preliminary examination for two men charged in the case, including footage showing Osama being shot.

Otis Davis, 46, faces charges of open murder, possession of a firearm by a felon and felony firearm. Dietrick Odums, 31, is charged with assault with intent to murder, possession of a firearm by a felon and felony firearm in connection with the fatal shooting.

As the two defendants sat handcuffed in jail garb in the packed courtroom, their lawyers, prosecutors and a judge gathered around a television, watching the video that was recorded about 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 7.

The video “speaks for itself” 36th District Judge Kenneth King said, before ruling both men should proceed to trial on all charges.

“This kind of stupid, outrageous conduct in this city has to stop,” he said, noting he’s not saying Cox is “any angel.”

According to testimony, Cox fired a shot inside and another outside the club before he was fatally shot by Davis. Rapid gunfire is heard on the video after the up-and-coming rapper is shot and runs away.

Davis’ attorney, Todd Perkins, argued his client shot in self-defense and said Davis believed Cox had a firearm in his hand when he shot.

Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Michael Reynolds countered when Davis fired the first shot, Cox was not posing a danger of imminent death or serious bodily harm to Davis. Before the shooting, there was an argument between two groups and Cox didn’t have a gun in his hand at the time, Reynolds said.

He also said Cox was running and posed no threat to Odums when Odums allegedly fired shots.

Odums’ attorney, Marlon Evans, told the court his client was not shooting at Cox.

Detroit Police Officer Raymond Diaz testified during the hearing in the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice that he collected evidence at the scene.

“Between the inside and the outside, I collected 25 shell casings,” he testified. “All of them were .40-caliber.”

Police recovered a gun that Cox was seen on surveillance video putting in a trash can at nearby gas station, Reynolds said.

When Detroit Police Officer James Wincek got to the scene, he said, he tried to find out what happened from Cox.

“He just kept saying ‘I can’t breathe. I can't breathe’ and ‘I don’t want to die,’ ” Wincek said.

Police have said Cox collapsed at the gas station and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

The courtroom was packed with people who knew the defendants and Cox, and after court let out for the day a fight occurred outside the courthouse, causing deputies and police to respond quickly.

Davis has a previous conviction of second-degree murder in 1989. He was paroled in 2012 and discharged from parole last year, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.

Both defendants, who are being held without bond, are due back in court to be arraigned on Nov. 6 in Wayne County Circuit Court.

Contact Elisha Anderson: eanderson@freepress.com or 313-222-5144.