Following the sudden deaths of former NBA player Rasual Butler and his wife, Leah LaBelle, police are reportedly retracing the couple’s steps the night of the fatal crash as part of their investigation.
Butler and LaBelle were in a car crash late on Wednesday morning in Studio City, California. Butler’s Range Rover hit a parking meter, flipped over, and slammed into a wall. Police suspect that the car was speeding before the crash, but that’s all they’ve determined so far.
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Now, they’re going over every detail of the couple’s night out to find any clues they can along the way. Investigators have stopped in to ask questions at several businesses near the crash site, according to TMZ. One of those stops was a popular local bowling alley, where Butler and LaBelle were reportedly seen earlier in the night.
Sources in the department said that the investigative team isn’t necessarily looking for evidence of drinking throughout the night, as they’ll learn about that once the toxicology reports come back from the autopsy. More importantly, they’re looking for any video taken in Butler‘s Range Rover leading up to the crash, which would help them determine its cause.
The autopsies were completed on both stars, and the medical examiner named the cause of their deaths to be “multiple traumatic injuries,” according to TMZ. The examiner also confirmed that the death was accidental.
Butler, 38, started playing in the NBA in 2002. Before that, he played for La Salle University in Philadelphia. In his time as a professional athlete, he played for the Hornets, Clippers, Bulls, Raptors, Pacers, Wizards and Spurs before leaving the NBA in 2016. He briefly played for Ice Cube’s BIG3 League as well.
LaBel, 31, was an R&B singer. She was signed to Epic Records. Her career began on the third season of American Idol, where she placed 12th.
Butler was a close friend of Lamar Odom, the ex-husband of Khloe Kardashian. Butler appeared several times on Odom and Kardashian’s spin-off reality series, Khloe & Lamar, which gave him recognition beyond the world of sports.
His and LaBelle’s deaths were mourned publicly across social media, as well as by their high-profile friends.
