Voletta Wallace

Voletta Wallace (born February 3, 1950) is the mother of the late rapper The Notorious B.I.G. She is the founder of the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation in his memory, and remains a well-known figure in hip hop, often appearing in documentaries and television specials about her son such as Vh1's Behind the Music.
Early life
Voletta was born as an only child in Jamaica. Her mother Lauriya (born 1933) was 17 when Voletta was born and Voletta's father (born 1928, died 1991) was 21. Voletta's parents married shortly after her birth and divorced when she was 2. Voletta's mother remarried in 1954 and Voletta was estranged from both parents until 1971.
Birth of Biggie
On May 21, 1972, Wallace gave birth to an eight-pound baby, Christopher. She raised Christopher in Brooklyn (specifically Bedford Stuyvesant) while teaching pre-school and studying for a master's degree. She attended a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall at that time.
Preserving his Legacy
After surviving two fights of breast cancer and her son's death, she took over her son's estate and started the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation to bring education to the inner city. She lived in the house her son owned in New Jersey, but recently moved to Pennsylvania. She has two grandchildren, T'yanna Wallace, from Biggie's previous relationship, and Christopher Jordan Wallace, Jr. from Biggie's marriage with singer Faith Evans.
Legal Battles
In March 2005, Ms. Wallace and other family members of Christopher Wallace filed a wrongful death claim against the LAPD based on the evidence championed by Russell Poole. They claimed the LAPD had sufficient evidence to arrest the assailant, but failed to utilize it. David Mack and Amir Muhammad (a.k.a. Harry Billups) were originally named as defendants in the civil suit, but were dropped shortly before the trial began after the LAPD and FBI dismissed them as suspects. In July 2005, the case was declared a after the judge showed concern that the police were withholding evidence. An attempt to expand the wrongful death lawsuit to include new claims failed in August 2006.
On April 16, 2007, Ms. Wallace and other relatives filed a second wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles, California. The suit also named two LAPD officers in the center of the LAPD Rampart Division corruption probe, Rafael Perez and Nino Durden. According to the claim, Perez, an alleged affiliate of Death Row Records, admitted to LAPD officials that he and Mack (who was not named in the lawsuit) "conspired to murder, and participated in the murder of Christopher Wallace". The Wallace family believe the LAPD "consciously concealed Rafael Perez's involvement in the murder of ... Wallace".
Notorious biopic
Academy Award nominated actress Angela Bassett portrayed her in the 2009 biopic, Notorious.

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