By Cathy Scott
LAS VEGAS SUN

A key witness Metro Police have been trying to interview since the fatal shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur has been murdered in New Jersey, homicide Sgt. Kevin Manning said today.

Yafeu Fula, 19, a member of Shakur's backup group The Outlaws, was shot to death Sunday, Manning said. Orange Police notified Manning late Tuesday about the killing.

Fula was shot once in the head and found slumped in the third floor hallway of an apartment building at 325 Mechanic Street early Sunday, Orange Police said. Officers found Fula at 3:48 a.m. after receiving a report of a shooting.

Some of Fula's friends said they believed Fula was Shakur's half brother, The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J., reported Tuesday. Orange Police said they didn't know if the two were related. Fula is shown with Shakur in an album photo insert standing on the Club 662's stage in Las Vegas.

Shakur was gunned down Sept. 7 while he, associates and friends rode in a caravan of luxury cars headed to a benefit at Club 662, a private nightclub operated by Marion "Suge" Knight. Knight was driving the rented BMW in which Shakur was a passenger. He suffered only a minor head wound. Shakur died six days after the shooting.

Fula was sitting with body guards in the car behind Tupac's when the shooting occurred, Manning said. Metro has been in touch with Fula's attorney since the shooting requesting Fula return to Las Vegas for a second interview. Detectives interviewed him briefly after the shooting.

Meanwhile, homicide has received new tips in Shakur's killing near the Las Vegas Strip after "America's Most Wanted" aired a segment about the incident.

The program, shown Saturday night on the Fox Network, prompted "a healthy amount of tips," said Lena Nozizwe, a correspondent with the program. Officials from the show forwarded those tips Tuesday to homicide investigators, Lt. Larry Spinosa said.

The first in the fall series of new shows, "America's Most Wanted Fights Back," aired Saturday night and featured the shooting of Shakur in Las Vegas. The program has resulted in the arrest of 423 criminals.

Spinosa said Tuesday that detectives were reviewing the new tips and "are following up on them, making phone calls."

To date, police have received sketchy details of the gunmen. They are described as three to four black men in a white or light-colored late-model Cadillac that pulled alongside Shakur and Knight on Flamingo Road East. Tupac and his entourage were in town for the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon fight.