LAGOS AUGUST 18TH (NEWSRANGERS)-A former gang leader is on trial in Las Vegas for the murder of Tupac Shakur, who died a week after being hit in a drive-by shooting on 7 September 1996
The prosecution and defence have delivered their opening arguments as Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, faces one count of murder with a deadly weapon
Prosecutors allege that although Davis did not himself fire the gun that shot and killed Shakur, he was the ringleader of the group responsible. Davis has pleaded not guilty
The defence says the prosecution’s case is the product of a flawed, decades-long investigation
The prosecution has called their first witnesses, including one who was riding in a nearby car the night of the shooting has told the court “all hell broke loose” as gunshots rang out, as a former Las Vegas homicide detective says people were hesitant in testifying about the case
You can also follow the case on the BBC podcast Fame Under Fire: The Tupac Murder Trial, which is available now on BBC Sounds, BBC iPlayer or wherever you get your podcasts
Jury hears of the night ‘all hell broke loose’ when Tupac was shot
A day in court has been a long time coming in the 30-year-old cold case of Tupac Shakur’s murder in Las Vegas.
I was inside the courthouse as opening statements began in the trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, charged with murder in Tupac’s death.
Davis walked in wearing a blue suit, scanned the public gallery and then sat quietly beside his lawyer as prosecutors laid out their case against him.
They say Davis orchestrated Tupac Shakur’s killing as revenge for an attack on his nephew earlier that night.
The prosecutor told the jury what they can expect to hear in this trial: “You will learn from Keffe D himself.”
That’s because much of the case against Davis comes from his own words in his memoir Compton Street Legend. He describes being inside a white Cadillac at the scene of the shooting and supplying the gun that was passed into the back seat and used to shoot Tupac.
Davis’s defence says that account was a fictional embellishment to sell books, calling the decades-long investigation “biased, sloppy and incomplete”.
The jury on Monday also heard about the crucial minutes before and after the shooting from those who were there.
A former police officer said he saw the BMW carrying Tupac and record-label boss Suge Knight riddled with bullets.
Another witness recalled hearing the gunfire: “All hell broke loose.”
But she did not see the shooter.
And the detective who investigated the case at the time said witnesses had “skedaddled” – leaving police with little more info than a white car and a glimpse of what he described as “a black arm”.
As the jury hears from more witnesses in the coming days, they must decide how reliable their testimony is – and whether Davis’s own words were indeed fact or fiction.
We are closing our live coverage. You can read a wrap of today’s evidence here.
Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis: The man prosecutors allege ordered the hit on Tupac
Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, faces one count of murder with a deadly weapon over the death of Tupac Shakur.
Police allege he planned the shooting after his nephew was involved in a fight in a Las Vegas casino. Davis was arrested near his Las Vegas home in September 2023.
Prosecutors allege Davis – a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips street gang – was the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of Shakur.
Davis denies the charges, and his defence team says there is no evidence he orchestrated the murder.
Tupac’s murder case had largely gone cold until public statements made by Davis himself, who published a memoir in 2019 in which he claims he was a passenger in the vehicle that fired into Tupac’s car.
He says in the book that he gave the gun used in the murder to his nephew, Orlando Anderson, who shot the rapper.
Defence attorneys argue the book is fictional. A judge ruled it can be introduced in court.
What is this trial about?
It’s been three decades filled with mystery, conspiracies – and anger.
The drive-by shooting that killed rap superstar Tupac Shakur on 7 September 1996 changed the trajectory of hip-hop and elevated the rapper from the face of the genre to a cultural icon.
His killing became one of popular culture’s great mysteries, with countless theories but no arrests until 2023, when Duane “Keffe D” Davis was charged with murdering the rapper.
The 63-year-old former gang boss is standing trial in Las Vegas, where he is accused of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He’s pleaded not guilty.
If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole. The trial could unravel the intricacies of the bitter and deadly East Coast vs West Coast rap rivalries and turf wars between the Bloods and the Crips street gangs that were immortalised in rap lyrics and news reports in the 1990s.
Who is who in the trial of Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis?published at 17:31
We’ve heard a lot of names on the first day of the trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the man charged with the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur.
- Frank Alexander: Tupac’s bodyguard in 1996 who was in the convoy of cars the night Tupac was shot. Former Las Vegas detective Brent Becker said when he later showed Alexander a line-up of suspects in Tupac’s murder – which included Orlando Anderson and Duane Davis – Alexander could not positively identify anyone.
- Christopher Wallace: Birth name of rapper Biggie Smalls, also known as The Notorious B.I.G., who was shot and killed six months after Tupac died. Investigators of both rappers’ murders were in contact with each other.
- Orlando Anderson: An alleged member of the South Side Compton Crips gang and Davis’s nephew. Hours before Tupac was shot, video showed Anderson being beaten by a group that included Suge Knight.
- Marion “Suge” Knight Jr: Former executive at Death Row Records, the music label Tupac was signed with. Suge was driving the car Tupac was in the night he was shot.
- Reggie Wright Jr: The former head of security at Death Row Records. Wright had told his people to lie to investigators about Tupac’s murder, Davis’ defence attorney alleges.
- What evidence have jurors seen?published at 17:13
With court wrapped up for the day, let’s look at some of the visual evidence that was shown.
The jury saw several images of the car that Tupac was riding in when he was shot.
Multiple bullet holes can be seen in one photo, while another shows an investigator scouring the vehicle for evidence.
We’ve also seen a photo of the accused when he was promoting his tell-all memoir.
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