Duane "Keffe D" Davis, the man accused of orchestrating the 1996 killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur, is scheduled to go to trial Monday, almost 30 years after the fatal drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. The trial is expected to last about a month and will center on Davis' book, which will be front and center in the prosecutors' case.
LAS VEGAS — The man who prosecutors say orchestrated the 1996 killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur is scheduled to go to trial Monday, almost 30 years after the fatal drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.
Duane "Keffe D" Davis, 63, faces a single count of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang in Shakur's death. He's been jailed since late 2023 and has pleaded not guilty. For decades, Shakur's unsolved killing has gripped hip-hop fans. He's considered one of the most influential rappers of all time with songs that speak to the human experience of love, heartache and familial relationships.
When Shakur died, he was in the midst of a fierce battle for dominance in a music scene increasingly shaped by rival gangs. The trial, which is expected to last about a month, likely won't reveal who pulled the trigger. Instead, prosecutors hope to prove that Davis was the shot caller and provided the weapon. Gunfire came from the Cadillac that Davis was in, and he's one of the only people there that night who is still alive.
Prosecutors say if Davis hadn't written explicitly about the killing, or talked about it in interviews, it's likely no one would have been charged. Cold case is revived on Tupac Shakur's killing Get the latest news delivered to your inbox Sign up for The Manila Times newsletters By signing up with an email address, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
On Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur was in the passenger seat of a black BMW and Death Row Records co-founder Marion "Suge" Knight was driving. They had just watched Mike Tyson knock out Bruce Seldon and were headed to a nightclub where Shakur was scheduled to perform. But at a red light near the Las Vegas Strip, a white Cadillac pulled up beside them, and gunfire erupted.
Shakur was shot multiple times and died six days later, while Knight survived with minor injuries. Knight is serving a 28-year prison sentence for a fatal hit-and-run. The case went cold until Davis began making public statements about his involvement as a leader of the South Side Compton Crips. In 2019, he published a tell-all memoir.
The book, along with interviews Davis gave, revived the police investigation. Davis' defense attorneys argue there is no evidence he directed the shooting and the state relies on witnesses who weren't there. For Shakur's family, the last 30 years have been exhausting and stressful, his stepbrother Maurice "Mopreme" Shakur said. Sitting through the trial will be retraumatizing, Shakur said, but he's "cautiously optimistic" justice will come.
"I hope that the trial is fair, and we find out the truth," he said. The trial will center on Davis' book, which will be front and center. The prosecutors' case relies on "Compton Street Legend," the book Davis co-authored about the shooting and his time in the Crips, as well as police and media interviews he participated in.
Davis' attorneys unsuccessfully fought to block the use of the book and a recording of a 2008 police interview in the trial. They argued the book was fictionalized and had a co-author, making it impossible to know which parts Davis wrote. They also argued Davis' interview with a federal task force investigating the deaths of Wallace and Shakur was supposed to be confidential and not used against him.
The memoir says that Shakur and his entourage "crossed the line" when they beat up Anderson.
"We couldn't let no record company studio gangsters do us like that," the book says. Davis was in the passenger seat of the Cadillac and passed a gun to the back seat earlier that night, according to the book. The trial is expected to last about a month
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