Is an unpaid debt worth fake-dying over?
Rapper Tim Dog, who was reported to have died in February after suffering a seizure, is really alive, according to a woman who has gone to Mississippi prosecutors with her claim that the "F--k Compton" artist faked his own death because he owed her money.
And authorities sound inclined to believe her.
A judge issued an arrest warrant for the rapper, whose real name is Timothy Blair, on May 21 and Desoto County Assistant District Attorney Steven Jubera tells E! News that he wants proof that Blair is, in fact, dead.
"I don't have any death certificate and I don't have anything to confirm if he is deceased," Jubera said, noting that one of his investigators has put in a request for the documentation with the Georgia Department of Public Health (Blair's last known address was in Atlana), but has yet to hear back. "I would love a death certificate if he is dead."
Blair was sentenced to five years' probation after pleading guilty in August 2011 to grand larceny for swindling Esther Pilgrim, who says she met the rapper online in 2007 and loaned him money that she never got back. He had been paying $19,000 in restitution in monthly installments until February, when The Source magazine reported that he had died after suffering a seizure.
Rolling Stone, which also ran a brief obit on Tim Dog, attributed the few details pertaining to his passing to The Source.
"Staring on March 1, 2013, he did not pay his fines, costs and assessments. And consistent with what I always do, I issued a bench warrant to revoke his probation for not paying his fines," Jubera said.
"I'm not pursuing a fraud case involving Mr. Blair's death [or lack thereof]," he added. "The only proof we have is that he hasn't paid his bill. All I'm after is to bring him before the court to pay his fines. At this point, I am pursuing this to fully pay as ordered. If he is deceased, we would close the case. And, if he is in fact alive, the bench warrant is in place to bring him into custody."
Ironically, Nas turned out to be right on the money when he questioned the whereabouts of Tim Dog in the track "Where Are They Now" on his 2006 album Hip Hop Is Dead.
—Reporting by Senta Scarborough