He co-founded Violator, a record label, management and marketing company, which represented hip hop and R&B artists such as Busta Rhymes, A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Mobb Deep, Missy Elliott, LL Cool J, Noreaga, Prodigy, 50 Cent, Mariah Carey and Sean "Diddy" Combs.
[1] After leaving Rush, Lighty co-founded Violator Management with Mona Scott-Young in 1996;[8] the company is named after the gang he belonged to in the Bronx.
[7] He appeared in the September 2004 Electronic Arts video game Def Jam: Fight for NY as himself under the moniker "Baby Chris".
[1] On August 30, 2012, Lighty was found dead on the patio of his South Riverdale, Bronx[1] apartment from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
[5] The New York Daily News reported that "a gun shot was heard and Lighty was found lying face-up with a 9mm pistol next to his body".
[9] Lighty's brother and many other celebrity figures stated that they did not believe that the death was a suicide and that the family would be staging its own private independent investigation and would share any solid findings with the public.
[6] Rapper 50 Cent, a client and close friend of Chris, also questioned the suicide claim; he hired a team to investigate the details of the incident, at the request of Lighty's mother.