Trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis to examine 1996 Tupac Shakur shooting
Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the last living suspect in the 1996 drive-by killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, will face a jury trial beginning Aug. 10, with prosecutors presenting new details about the night of the shooting.
A Las Vegas jury trial set for Aug. 10 will focus on Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, who prosecutors allege organized the September 7, 1996 drive-by shooting that killed rapper Tupac Shakur and wounded music executive Marion “Suge” Knight. Davis, arrested in 2023, has pleaded not guilty.
According to court records and testimony, Shakur was a passenger in a black BMW driven by Knight when a white Cadillac pulled alongside and opened fire. Knight survived with minor injuries; Shakur died a week later at age 25.
Authorities say the incident stemmed from a rivalry between East Coast affiliates of a Bloods gang sect and West Coast members of a Crips sect, a conflict Davis claims he led in Compton. Three other men were in the Cadillac that night, but none have been charged before their deaths.
"We were never able to identify the person who rented the car, where it was rented from, and then when it comes to the gun, we have never recovered as of this date, the weapon that was used in the murder," retired Las Vegas police Detective Clifford Mogg told a grand jury.
Davis’s 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend,” describes himself and Knight as the only living eyewitnesses. He writes that he placed a handgun in the Cadillac’s back seat but does not identify the shooter. The book names several individuals—Anderson, Smith and Brown—who were present, noting that Anderson, a 22-year-old at the time, was later killed in an unrelated shooting.
Grand-jury testimony introduced conflicting accounts: former associate Denvonta Lee claimed that Smith, not Anderson, fired the shots, while other evidence points to Anderson as the gunman. Neither the Cadillac nor the firearm has been recovered.
Knight, now 61, is serving a 28-year sentence for a 2015 homicide. He and Shakur had grown up together in Compton, playing youth football and later pursuing music careers.
The trial is expected to bring additional testimony from witnesses and further examination of the memoir’s claims, potentially clarifying the roles of the individuals present in the Cadillac on the night of the shooting.