The murder trial of Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis is set to open with the beginning of opening statements. Davis is accused of orchestrating the drive-by shooting that resulted in the death of rap icon Tupac Shakur nearly three decades ago.
Prosecutors allege Davis planned the attack and provided the gun used in the killing after Shakur had a confrontation with Davis’ nephew at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. Although Davis is not accused of pulling the trigger, he faces charges for murder with a deadly weapon intending to assist a criminal gang. Nevada law allows for individuals to be convicted if they aided in committing the crime.
A significant part of the prosecution’s case will rely on Davis’s 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend. In this book, Davis describes his alleged involvement in Shakur’s death. Davis states he was in the car next to Shakur and music producer Marion ‘Suge’ Knight at a red light when his companion opened fire. Davis recounts the events saying Shakur reached for what seemed to be a weapon.
Tupac made an erratic move and began to reach down beneath his seat,” Davis writes in the book, “It was the first and only time in my life that I could relate to the police command, ‘Keep your hands where I can see them.’ Instead, Pac pulled out a strap, and that’s when the fireworks started. “One of my guys from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started bustin’ back.”
Authorities reported finding no weapon in Shakur’s vehicle. Davis claims the incident followed a confrontation earlier that night involving Shakur, Knight, and his nephew, Orlando Anderson, who was long suspected of being the shooter. Anderson died in 1998.
Davis’s book portrays Shakur and his entourage as having attacked Anderson, prompting a retaliatory response we couldn’t let no record company studio gangsters do us like that.
He positions himself as one of the few surviving witnesses to the killings of both Tupac and Biggie Smalls.
Potential prosecution witnesses include Suge Knight, currently serving a sentence for voluntary manslaughter, and Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, who worked with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police during Shakur’s death. Reggie Wright Jr., former security head at Death Row Records, has been subpoenaed but denies organizing the killing. Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, previously accused by Davis of wanting Shakur and Knight dead, will not testify.
NewsNation’s Micheal Ramsey contributed to the story.