The trial of 63-year-old Duane “Keffe D” Davis began in Las Vegas in connection with the fatal shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur on Sept. 7, 1996. Prosecutors allege Davis orchestrated the killing and have charged him with murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. Davis has pleaded not guilty, with his defense maintaining there is no evidence he directed the shooting.
The incident occurred outside an MGM Grand arena following a Mike Tyson boxing match. Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight were involved in an altercation with individuals that included Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson. Later that evening, as Shakur and Knight traveled to a nightclub, a white Cadillac pulled alongside their vehicle and gunfire erupted near the Las Vegas Strip. Shakur was shot multiple times and died six days later; Knight survived with minor injuries. The shooting allegedly was an act of retaliation stemming from the brawl.
Davis’ 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend,” reignited the cold case investigation and led to his eventual charging. The memoir and his interviews proved instrumental in reviving interest in the unsolved case. The trial is expected to last approximately one month, with prosecutors planning to call between 35 and 45 witnesses, including individuals who were present at the time and associates of both Shakur and Davis.
The three other men in the Cadillac have all died in the intervening years. Authorities have not recovered the weapon used in the shooting or the vehicle involved. Knight, serving a 28-year prison sentence in California for an unrelated 2015 conviction, is listed as a witness but has stated he does not wish to participate. The jury consists of six men and 10 women, with four serving as alternates.
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI