On April 1, 1984, two shots rang out at the Los Angeles residence of singer Marvin Gaye. Fresh from a successful tour promoting his 1983 hit “Sexual Healing,” Gaye was shot twice, once through the heart and again through the shoulder. His father, Marvin Gay Sr., was the man behind the gun.
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Unsurprisingly, the news sent shockwaves through the world. The public devoured the salacious story of a star knocked from his pedestal at the height of fame by his own father. But the story behind Marvin Gaye’s murder was far more complex than a deranged parent gunning down their child.
Arguably even more surprising was the way Marvin Sr. managed to avoid his initial charge of first-degree murder.
Gay’s Initial Comments After the Killing
After police inevitably arrived at the Gay/Gaye residence, Marvin Gay Sr. was charged with first-degree murder and taken to the Los Angeles County Jail. His initial bond was $100,000. In a Washington Post interview days after the killing, Gay said he hadn’t realized his pistol was loaded with bullets and not BBs or blanks. “I didn’t mean to do it,” he said. “I regret what happened to this moment.”
However, comments Gay made later in the interview would overshadow any remorse he expressed previously. When asked if he loved his son, Gay replied, “Let’s say that I didn’t dislike him.” The jail later reduced Gay’s bond to $30,000, and his then-estranged wife, Alberta, posted it. One month later, the ailing Marvin Sr. had a check-up at the County-USC Medical Center, during which doctors found a benign tumor at the base of his brain.
How the Tumor Discovery Affected Criminal Proceedings
Marvin Gay Sr. underwent surgery on May 17, 1984, to remove the brain tumor. His defense team, led by attorney Arnold Gold, argued in preliminary hearings that the tumor might’ve affected Gay’s cognitive functioning and led to the killing of his son, Marvin Gaye. But while the tumor discovery bought Marvin Sr. time to build a defense, it didn’t keep him out of court forever. By June 1984, Superior Court Judge Michael Pirosh deemed Marvin Sr. competent enough to stand trial.
An autopsy of Marvin Jr. found cocaine and PCP in the singer’s system at the time of his death. This discovery, paired with photographs of injuries sustained by Marvin Sr. in a violent altercation with his son leading up to the fatal shooting, led to Superior Court Judge Gordon Ringer’s decision to offer the father a plea deal. On September 20, 1984, Marvin Gay Sr. pled no contest to voluntary manslaughter. Even with his initial first-degree murder charge reduced to voluntary manslaughter, Marvin Sr. faced up to 13 years in prison.
Two months later, Judge Ringer sentenced Gay to a six-year suspended sentence and five years of probation. The court also forbade Gay from owning firearms or drinking alcohol. Gay returned to his Los Angeles home for a couple of years before ongoing health issues forced him to move into a nursing home in 1986. He died of pneumonia on October 10, 1988, at 84 years old.
(Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)
