Former NBA player Rasual Butler, wife Leah Labelle from ‘American Idol’ killed in car crash
Leah Labelle, a 2004 American Idol finalist, and her husband Rasual Butler, a former NBA player, were killed overnight in a single-car crash in Studio City, Los Angeles.
LAPD says Butler was at the wheel of a 2011 Land Rover that was traveling at a high rate of speed, drove off the roadway and collided with the curb at about 2:25 AM. The vehicle continued in a northwest direction and collided with three parking meters, a concrete wall and several other objects before flipping over twice and coming to a stop inside the parking lot of the shopping mall in 11200 block of Ventura Boulevard of Studio City.
Paramedics pronounced both victims dead at the scene. LAPD Valley Traffic Division officer believe that speed was a factor in the crash.
Labelle was 31, and Butler was 38.
Leah Labelle Vladowski, known on Idol and professionally as Leah Labelle, finished 12th on Season 3. She worked as a backup singer Keri Hilson and later picked up by Jermaine Dupri and Pharrell Williams for a record deal. In 2011, a sampler for record companies was produced that featured “Sexify.” The track made the national R&B chart in 2012.
Butler has a 14-year National Basketball Association (NBA) career, he played for the Miami Heat, New Orleans Hornets, Los Angeles Clippers, Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards and San Antonio Spurs. Butler also appeared on the reality series Khloe & Lamar, opposite his friend and former teammate Lamar Odom and Khloé Kardashian.