Jury selection begins Monday in Clark County District Court for Duane "Keffe D" Davis, the 63-year-old former gang leader charged with murder in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur. The trial, expected to last about a month, will finally bring to court one of hip-hop's most enduring mysteries.
Davis faces a single count of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He pleaded not guilty after his arrest in 2023. Judge Carli Kierny will preside over proceedings in Las Vegas, where public seating will be allocated by lottery with a live feed available in an adjacent courtroom.
The shooting and the investigation
Shakur, 25, was shot on September 7, 1996, while riding in a black BMW with music executive Marion "Suge" Knight near the Las Vegas Strip. Assailants in a white Cadillac pulled alongside and opened fire. Shakur died six days later. Knight survived. The case went cold for decades despite intense public scrutiny.
Interest reignited after Davis co-authored a memoir, Compton Street Legends, describing his role in the events. Davis writes that he obtained a handgun and placed it on the back seat of the Cadillac but does not identify the shooter. He was a leader of the South Side Compton Crips at the time.
Prosecution theory and key witnesses
Prosecutors will not argue that Davis pulled the trigger. Instead, they contend he ordered and orchestrated the killing and supplied the weapon. His nephew, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, long suspected as the gunman, was killed in a gang-related shooting in Compton in 1998. Two other men in the Cadillac, Deandrae "Freaky" Smith and Terry "Bubble Up" Brown, have also since died.
Between 35 and 45 witnesses are expected. The list includes former Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman, members of Shakur's family, South Side Crip affiliate Denvonta Lee, and Leonard Jefferson, who captured the last known photograph of Shakur minutes before the shooting. Former police officers, detectives and gang experts are also slated to testify.
Lee previously testified before a grand jury that rival gangs, the Crips and the Mob Piru, were linked to feuding record labels Death Row Records and Bad Boy Records. Shakur was signed to Death Row at the time. Lee also stated that Anderson did not have a clear shot, so Smith took the gun and fired, and that Davis was in charge and passed the weapon to Anderson, who passed it to Smith.
Knight, currently serving a 28-year sentence in California for a 2015 fatal hit-and-run, is the last living witness to the shooting. He has said he will not testify. Defence attorney Michael Sanft told The Associated Press that Knight would be a favourable witness for the defence if he did appear.
Based on reporting by Global News.