Tupac Shakur Murder Trial: Who Is Duane “Keffe D” Davis and Why Is He on Trial Nearly 30 Years Later?
By Alexus Mosley
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Nearly 30 years after Tupac Shakur was fatally shot in Las Vegas, someone is finally standing trial for his murder.
Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a former Los Angeles-area gang leader, is accused of orchestrating the September 1996 drive-by shooting that killed the 25-year-old rap icon. Davis has pleaded not guilty. Opening statements in his trial began August 17 in Las Vegas.
Davis has long been connected to the night of Shakur’s shooting. Prosecutors say he was riding in the white Cadillac involved in the attack and helped organize the shooting in retaliation for a fight that occurred hours earlier at the MGM Grand.
Shakur and members of his entourage had attacked Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, following a Mike Tyson fight. Prosecutors allege Davis subsequently obtained a gun and helped set the fatal attack in motion. He is not accused of actually firing the shots.
Ironically, Davis’ own words became central to the case.
Over the years, he publicly discussed his presence during the shooting, including in interviews and his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend. Those statements helped revive interest in the long-cold case. Davis was ultimately arrested and indicted in September 2023 on a murder charge involving use of a deadly weapon and an allegation that the crime was committed to promote, further, or assist a criminal gang.
Duane "Keffe D" Davis being led into a Las Vegas courtroom at the Regional Justice Center in connection with his murder charges for the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur
Photo Credit: Bizuayehu Tesfaye / Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP, Pool
Under Nevada law, prosecutors do not have to prove Davis pulled the trigger to pursue a murder conviction if they prove he participated in the crime.
His defense is essentially arguing that Davis talked too much, but that doesn’t mean his stories were true.
His attorney has characterized Davis’ previous accounts as exaggerations made for attention and financial gain and argues there isn’t sufficient corroborating evidence proving he orchestrated Shakur’s murder. Prosecutors, meanwhile, are using those very statements as key evidence against him.
Almost three decades after one of pop culture’s most infamous unsolved murders, a jury will now decide which version to believe.