Elsewhere: Brief reality TV stint leads to alleged killer
An aspiring rapper and reality TV contestant is set to go on trial for murder in San Francisco next week.
Jamal Rashead Trulove, 29, is accused of murdering Seu Kuka, 28, of San Francisco, on July 23, 2007, according to the district attorney’s office.
Kuka was shot dead at the Sunnydale public housing projects on Blythedale Avenue in San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley neighborhood. Trulove was arrested in October 2008 in Seaside in Monterey County on a $5 million murder warrant.
According to prosecutors, Trulove appeared on the VH1 reality show “I Love New York 2,” which aired between October and December 2007. The program was filmed in Los Angeles at the beginning of July that year, just three weeks before the alleged murder.
Trulove was one of several men vying for the affections of Tiffany “New York” Pollard, a reality TV veteran who herself is a former contestant on the “Flavor of Love” reality show starring rapper Flavor Flav.
Trulove, who went by “Milliown,” “True” and “Jamal Bryant” on the show, was kicked off the program at the end of the first episode after he argued with another contestant.
He is originally from San Francisco but was living in Oakland at the time of the alleged murder, district attorney’s office spokesman Brian Buckelew said.
Kuka was reportedly chasing Trulove’s brother through the projects when he ran into Trulove, knocking him down, Buckelew said.
Buckelew said Trulove then allegedly got up and shot Kuka in the back, and then in the head multiple times.
Trulove has claimed to authorities that he was not there that day, Buckelew said. Note: Buckelew said early this afternoon he has learned that Trulove has not made such a claim.
In addition to the murder charge, Trulove is facing a charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and an allegation that he used a gun to commit the murder.
Jury selection in Trulove’s trial began Wednesday. Opening statements are expected next week.
Photo of Trulove: Buddy TV
