Duane “Keffe D” Davis Goes On Trial in Las Vegas for Tupac Shakur Murder

Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, went on trial in Las Vegas after prosecutors charged him in 2023 with one count of murder with a deadly weapon in the September 7, 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, who was gunned down in a drive-by shooting just off the Vegas Strip.

“Jury selection began on Monday in Las Vegas”

The Guardian

The Guardian said jury selection began on Monday in Las Vegas before Judge Carli Kierny, with prosecutors aiming to show that Davis ordered the killing and provided the gun for the fatal attack on Shakur.

BBC

CBS News reported that the trial is expected to last about a month and that prosecutors hope to prove Davis was the shot caller and provided the weapon, even though it likely will not reveal who pulled the trigger.

In Las Vegas, Shakur was in the passenger seat of a black BMW with music mogul Marion “Suge” Knight when a white Cadillac pulled up beside them and gunfire erupted, and Shakur died six days later while Knight survived.

William Lesane, who said he was Shakur’s cousin, told reporters outside the courtroom, “Hopefully we’ll find out some new information.”

The Guardian reported that Davis is accused of murder with a deadly weapon even though he is not alleged to have fired the shots himself, and it said prosecutors plan to present evidence material from Davis’s tell-all book, Compton Street Legend, published in 2019.

Le Monde.fr quoted Greg Kading, a retired Los Angeles Police Department detective, saying, “I am excited that justice is finally going to be served,” as the case opened in Las Vegas on Monday, August 10.

CBS News

USA Today said a supplemental witness list obtained by the outlet included more than 200 names and listed Marion “Suge” Knight, who has said he “wouldn't testify.”

USA Today also described how prosecutors plan to call witnesses including Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former bodyguard and Death Row Records cofounder Marion “Suge” Knight, while Davis has pleaded not guilty and prosecutors say he provided the weapon and instructed the South Side Crips to shoot from the car.

In the courtroom, Davis’s defense argued there is no evidence he directed the shooting and relied on witnesses who “weren't there,” while CBS News said Davis’s case hinges on whether jurors accept prosecutors’ theory that he made the calls that led to Shakur’s death and provided the gun used to shoot him.

Prosecutors in the trial are expected to revisit the feud described across the coverage as pitting Death Row Records and Bad Boy Records, with the Guardian saying the proceedings will revisit the battle between Death Row, founded by Marion “Suge” Knight, and Bad Boy Records created by Sean “Diddy” Combs.

“prosecutors plan to prove that Davis made the calls that led to Shakur’s death”

NBC News

The Guardian said Davis is the only person still alive out of the group prosecutors believe attacked Shakur and Knight that night, and it reported that Davis’s memoirs and public statements revived the investigation after decades of a lack of evidence.

NBC News said prosecutors are not arguing that Davis pulled the trigger and instead plan to prove that Davis made the calls that led to Shakur’s death and provided the gun used to shoot Shakur, with the trial scheduled to last about a month.

The stakes for Shakur’s family were underscored by CBS News, which quoted stepbrother Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur saying, “I hope that the trial is fair, and we find out the truth,” as he described the past 30 years as exhausting and stressful.

In addition to the criminal case, the Guardian reported that in May Shakur’s stepbrother Maurice Shakur filed a wrongful death lawsuit in civil court, saying “There remain individuals who were involved in Tupac’s murder who, for 30 years, have not been held accountable for their crimes.”