Coolio’s Estate Receives $173K Claim from Casino 'Assault' Victim

The RadarOnline news outlet is reporting that a woman who alleges she was assaulted by the late rapper Coolio at the MGM Detroit Casino is seeking $173K from his estate.

In October 2022, Coolio (real name Artis Leon Ivey Jr.), was found unresponsive on a bathroom floor in L.A. and was pronounced dead at the scene. The coroner determined he died of an accidental drug overdose. Now, Randa Davis has filed a creditor’s claim for the sum, which she says she was owed as part of a default judgment in 2013. This judgement came after Coolio ignored a civil complaint that Davis filed against him two years prior, regarding an altercation that happened at an after-show party in September 2009 at the MGM Grand. According to the lawsuit, Coolio had been heavily intoxicated when he “jumped on [Davis’] back and rode her like a bull”, causing her to suffer mental anguish. (Image: Dpa Picture Alliance/Alamy)

‘Mental Anguish’

Davis claimed that Coolio’s actions had caused her back injury, pain, disability, mental anguish, medical expenses, wage loss, loss of future earning potential, and other damages. She sought $1 million in damages against the artist, however, Coolio have reportedly failed to cooperate with the court or respond to the charges throughout the judicial process. Ultimately, in issuing the default judgement, a federal judge in Detroit found that Coolio’s refusal to cooperate was willful and that a lesser sanction was not appropriate.

Accidental OD

On September 28, 2022, the LA hip-hop icon Coolio was found unresponsive on the bathroom floor of a friend’s house in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, first responders were unable to save him and he was pronounced dead. According to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, his death was caused by an accidental overdose of fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine, and he was 57 years old. Prior to his passing, Coolio was on the verge of signing a deal for a Las Vegas residency at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, where he was set to headline 10 shows.

It was nearly three decades prior that the artist first emerged in the hip-hop scene in LA, as part of the gangsta rap group WC and the Maad Circle. His career trajectory was launched into the stars with the release of his solo debut album “It Takes a Thief” in 1994, whose lead single “Fantastic Voyage” peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The world would come to remember him fondly for his 1995 hit single “Gangsta’s Paradise.”

Coolio’s song, which drew inspiration from Stevie Wonder’s “Pastime Paradise,” featured in the Michelle Pfeiffer movie Dangerous Minds and earned him a Grammy Award.