Man to go on trial over murder of rapper Tupac Shakur

A former gang leader named Duane Keffe D Davis will face trial in Las Vegas today for the decades-old murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. The month-long proceedings are unlikely to reveal who pulled the trigger that killed the hip-hop icon on September 7, 1996, during a Mike Tyson boxing match in Sin City. Prosecutors aim to prove that Davis ordered the killing and provided the gun used to shoot Shakur in a drive-by shooting. If convicted, Davis could spend the rest of his life behind bars without parole.

The rapper, also known as 2Pac, remains one of America's most iconic cold cases, with endless speculation among music fans about who was responsible and why. Shakur, who died at 25, was a pivotal figure in the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop rivalry, with hits like "California Love" and "All Eyez on Me." He was born in Harlem and Baltimore but became the embodiment of a California bad boy after signing with Los Angeles-based Death Row Records.

The trial will revisit the feud between Death Row Records, founded by Marion Suge Knight, and Bad Boy Records, the East Coast label created by Sean Diddy Combs and featuring Christopher The Notorious B.I.G. Wallace (murdered in March 1997). Prosecutors claim Death Row was protected by Mob Piru, a Los Angeles gang affiliated with the Bloods alliance, and Knight was associated with the group.

Bad Boy Records hired the south side compton crips, led by Davis, as bodyguards. After the Tyson fight at MGM Grand casino, Knight and Shakur allegedly beat up Davis' nephew, Orlando Baby Lane Anderson, in retaliation for an alleged assault on a Death Row employee. Davis was seeking revenge, according to prosecutors.

Later that night, a white Cadillac carrying Davis, Anderson, and others pulled up beside Shakur's car in Las Vegas. Shots were fired from the Cadillac, fatally wounding Shakur. The investigation stalled for years due to a lack of evidence, but the cold case was reignited in 2019 when Davis' memoirs were published. These memoirs detailed Davis' presence in the Cadillac and his handing over a pistol to those in the back seat, although he did not specify who fired the fatal shot.

All other individuals in the Cadillac at the time have since passed away. Davis' recent revelations, consistent with his earlier statements, have led to his arrest in September 2023. He now claims he was in Los Angeles that night and was never part of the interview that formed the basis of the memoirs. His lawyers have attempted to exclude the book as evidence, along with his 2008 police interview, where he claimed the victim's stepbrother Maurice Shakur had offered $1 million for his murder.

The civil lawsuit filed by Shakur's stepbrother in May highlights the ongoing lack of accountability for Tupac's murder, citing a recent TV mini-series that echoed Davis' claims.