LAPD Apologizes To The Notorious B.I.G’s Family For Premature Autopsy Report Release

The Los Angeles Police Department has been forced to issue an apology to the family of The Notorious B.I.G., after it made the late rapper’s autopsy report public without telling his family first.

The rapper’s real name was Christopher George Latore Wallace.

In a statement, Captain Billy Hayes, head of the Robbery-Homicide division of the LAPD, said:

“Robbery-Homicide Division detectives had intended to notify Mr. Wallace’s family prior to releasing the report.”

He added,

“Our detectives personally spoke with the Wallace family [Friday] night, and apologized for not notifying them prior to the release. Obviously this has been a challenging case for us to solve. We hope that witnesses or other people with information will come forward and give us the clues we need to solve this case.”

The decision to release the 23-page autopsy report document was part of an effort to generate new leads for the unsolved drive-by shooting that killed the Brooklyn rapper in March 1997 on Wilshire Boulevard.

However, its premature leaking on Friday has been called an “administrative error” by the LAPD.

The autopsy report made grim reading. Details revealed that the gunshot that killed Wallace entered his right hip, ripping through his liver, colon, heart and part of his lung, before stopping in his right shoulder.

A further three bullets were fired at the rapper, and he died aged 24. To this day his killer (s) remain at large.

A lawyer for the Wallace family has criticized the way the autopsy was released. It remains to be seen whether the family will pursue the matter civilly. If so, it wouldn’t be the first time.

In 2007, Wallace’s family filed a second wrongful death suit against the city of Los Angeles, alleging that corrupt police officers killed him 10 years ago.

The suit sought unspecified damages on behalf of the widow, mother and two children of the rapper. It was ultimately thrown out.