30 Years Later, Trial Begins in Tupac Shakur Murder Case as Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis Faces Life in Prison

Nearly three decades after Tupac Shakur was fatally shot in Las Vegas, the long-running murder case is finally heading to trial, with former gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis facing a possible life sentence if convicted.

Jury selection is set to begin on Monday in Las Vegas, with the trial expected to last about a month. Prosecutors are expected to argue that Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, organised the attack and supplied the firearm used in the 1996 drive-by shooting.

Shakur, widely known as 2Pac, was 25 when he was shot on September 7, 1996, after attending a Mike Tyson boxing match at the MGM Grand. He was travelling in a car with Death Row Records boss Marion “Suge” Knight when another vehicle pulled alongside them and gunfire erupted. Shakur died six days later.

The case unfolded against the backdrop of the bitter East Coast-West Coast rivalry that dominated American hip-hop during the 1990s. Shakur was one of the leading figures associated with Los Angeles-based Death Row Records, while the rival Bad Boy Records was led by Sean “Diddy” Combs and featured rapper Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace, who was himself killed in Los Angeles in March 1997.

Prosecutors say the shooting was linked to an earlier confrontation at the MGM Grand. They allege that Shakur and Knight attacked Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, Davis’s nephew and a member of the South Side Compton Crips, in retaliation for an earlier assault involving a Death Row associate. Investigators say Davis and others later travelled in a white Cadillac that pulled alongside Shakur’s vehicle before shots were fired.

For years, the investigation produced little progress. The case gained new momentum after Davis published a memoir in 2019 in which he described being in the front passenger seat of the Cadillac and handing a gun to people in the back. However, he did not identify the person who fired the shots. The other occupants of the vehicle have since died.

Davis was arrested in September 2023 and has pleaded not guilty. He has since disputed his earlier account, saying he was in Los Angeles when Shakur was killed and claiming that his memoir was embellished by his co-author. Prosecutors are seeking to use the book, along with statements Davis made to police in 2008, as evidence.

Whatever the outcome, the trial may not resolve every question surrounding Shakur’s death. A wrongful-death lawsuit filed in May by the rapper’s stepbrother, Maurice Shakur, also alleges that others involved in the killing have never been held accountable. The civil case cites claims made by Davis about an alleged $1 million offer from Combs to kill Shakur, an allegation that has not been established as fact.