Veteran L.A. detectives to probe Notorious B.I.G. death

Nearly 10 years after the incident, the Los Angeles police have assigned a team of veteran homicide detectives to begin a new investigation into the killing of hit rapper Notorious B.I.G.

The probe comes amid a new wrongful death lawsuit filed by the rapper's mother, Voletta Wallace, and other relatives.

The New York rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was among the most influential rappers of the 1990s. In March 1997, while the 24-year-old was leaving a party in Los Angeles, he was shot and killed.

At the time of his death, Wallace — who also went by the moniker Biggie Smalls — and his record label Bad Boy Entertainment were entangled in afeud with Death Row Records founder Marion "Suge" Knight and Death Row star, rapper Tupac Shakur.

Shakur was shot to death in Las Vegas six months before Wallace's death and the case also remains unsolved. Knight has denied any involvement in Wallace's killing.

The Wallace family filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles and its police department. The suit claimed that arogue officer, under the command ofKnight, had arranged to have Wallace killed and that the police department covered up the involvement of the officer in question.

The judge declared a mistrial in July 2005, after hearing thata police officer had deliberately withheld evidence related to Wallace's death, and ordered the city to pay more than $1 million US for the family's legal fees and expenses.

A new trial is pending and the new task force's investigation could help the police department defend itself against the family's claims.