Man charged in Atlanta rapper's death claims self-defense

Investigators are still trying to determine a motive, one that might trace back to Atlanta. Robert "Bull" Shaw, manager of Platinum 21 Adult Entertainment, said Dolla was involved in an altercation at the strip club roughly two weeks ago.

"It was over before it started," said Shaw, who doesn't know Berry. "No one seems to know who [Berry] is."

Berry's attorney, Howard R. Price, told reporters in Los Angeles that it was a coincidence that the two men flew to the same city and ate at the same restaurant (P.F. Chang's China Bistro) on the same date and time.

Price accused Burton and his entourage of being affiliated with the Crips street gang.

Burton's stepfather, George Viera, said Dolla was merely a character -- not a real-life thug.

"To us he was just Roddy," said Viera, married to Dolla's mother, Dawnee Robinson Viera, for three years. "When he was home, you couldn't pry him away. Loved to play with his nieces and nephews, loved to play on the Wii."

The rapper's family, including sisters Divinity Burton, 22, and Sadenicole Burton, 20, gathered at the Viera's southwest Atlanta home Tuesday to plan Dolla's funeral, scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at Murray Brothers Funeral Home. A memorial service, also at Murray Brothers, will be held at 6 p.m., Friday, Viera said.

They learned of Burton's shooting from his longtime girlfriend, Crystal Jackson, a Los Angeles native and student at Clark Atlanta University. Dolla was planning a birthday party for Jackson, whom he had dated for at least three years, Viera said.

"They [Dolla, Abawi and Robinson] had just come out of P.F. Chang's," Viera said. "They heard gunfire and started running."

Burton was shot in the back, his stepfather said: "The bullet pierced his heart."

He was nearing completion of his first album, "Another Day, Another Dolla'," Viera said, but had future plans that might surprise his fans.

"He wanted to go to theology school," he said. "He was very interested in religion. People think rapper, they think hard, but he wasn't that way."

But according to a bio on his official MySpace page. Dolla was no stranger to the streets.

He sold drugs when he was just 10 years old to support his family. When he was five, Dolla writes, he witnessed his father's suicide.

He addressed his father's death and his own mortality in one of his songs, "Rainy Nights": "Papa died at 25 so he must have been great, they say the good die young, I guess I'm on my way."