Nearly three decades after Tupac Shakur was gunned down on a Las Vegas street, the man prosecutors accuse of orchestrating the killing is finally facing a jury. Duane 'Keffe D' Davis, a former gang leader from Compton, California, is charged with murder with a deadly weapon enhancement in connection with Tupac’s September 1996 killing. Duane, 63, has pleaded not guilty and has remained in custody since his arrest in 2023. His trial is expected to begin in Las Vegas following jury selection scheduled for August 10, bringing one of hip-hop’s most enduring murder mysteries into a courtroom at last.
The rapper was just 25 when he was shot in a drive-by attack on September 7, 1996, after attending the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon boxing match at the MGM Grand. Tupac was riding in a BMW driven by Death Row Records co-founder Marion Suge Knight when a white Cadillac pulled alongside the vehicle at a Las Vegas intersection and gunfire erupted. Tupac was struck multiple times and died six days later. Marion survived the attack. Now, prosecutors say Duane played a central role in setting the shooting in motion.
The alleged motive goes back to an altercation earlier that night inside the MGM Grand. Tupac and members of his entourage confronted Orlando 'Baby Lane' Anderson, Duane’s nephew, following the boxing match. Orlando had previously been accused of stealing a Death Row associate’s medallion, and the casino confrontation became physical. According to prosecutors, Duane subsequently helped organise a retaliation against Tupac. Authorities believe four men were inside the white Cadillac used in the shooting: Duane, Orlando, Deandrae Smith and Terry Brown.
The prosecution’s case does not depend on proving that Duane himself fired the fatal shots. Instead, prosecutors allege that he helped orchestrate the attack and supplied the gun used in the shooting. The identity of the actual shooter has never been definitively established in court. Orlando was long regarded as a prime suspect, but he was killed in an unrelated shooting in 1998 and was never charged in Tupac’s death. Deandrae and Terry have also since died. Duane is therefore the only person from the alleged group in the Cadillac who is now facing prosecution.
Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of the case is how much Duane has said publicly about Tupac’s killing over the years. He has discussed the shooting in interviews and in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend. Prosecutors argue that his own accounts provide evidence of his involvement, including his alleged role in supplying the weapon. A judge has ruled that Duane’s memoir can be used as evidence at trial. A past police interview has also been cleared for use, giving prosecutors material from the accused himself to put before the jury.
The trial could establish whether prosecutors have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Duane participated in Tupac’s murder. It could also shed new light on what happened inside that white Cadillac and why Tupac became the target of the attack.
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