Trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis Begins in Tupac Shakur Murder Case

Opening statements in the murder trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis began Monday at the Clark County courthouse in Las Vegas. Davis, a former Los Angeles gang leader arrested in September 2023, faces charges of murder with a deadly weapon and gang-related intent for the 1996 shooting that killed rapper Tupac Shakur six days after he and Marion “Suge” Knight were shot outside a casino. He has entered a not-guilty plea.

Prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo told prospective jurors that the case has attracted worldwide attention and emphasized the need for jurors to set aside prior knowledge and evaluate the evidence impartially. The trial will allow the jury to hear excerpts from Davis’s 2019 memoir and earlier police interviews, which prosecutors say demonstrate his role as the “shot caller” who ordered his crew to fire on Shakur and Knight.

Knight, the only surviving eyewitness, declined to cooperate with law enforcement and reiterated from prison that he will not testify, describing the prospect of identifying participants as “worse than taking a gun and shooting.”

Davis’s defense plans to call an expert on false confessions to challenge the reliability of any statements obtained during prior interrogations. If convicted, the 63-year-old could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The trial is expected to last about a month, with a verdict potentially delivered around the anniversary of Shakur’s death.

The jury, composed of six men and ten women from diverse backgrounds, will hear testimony from original investigators, alleged members of Davis’s crew, and other witnesses. Judge Carli Kierny, who presided over the case, has a background as a public defender and emphasized the importance of impartiality in the proceedings.