Jurors View Keffe D's BET Interview During Tupac Murder Trial

Jurors in the Las Vegas trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis were shown segments of the BET series Death Row Chronicles in which the suspect describes the night Tupac Shakur was shot in 1996. Prosecutors argue that Davis’s participation in the documentary and the later release of a memoir violated a 2008 agreement that limited the use of his earlier police interview, allowing the statements to be admitted as evidence.

In the 2018 documentary clip, Davis says he agreed to speak because he is ill and wants to tell the truth. He recounts riding in a white Cadillac with his nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson and two other men, spotting Shakur in a black BMW, and following the vehicle driven by Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight. When asked who fired the gun, Davis replies, “Going to keep it for the code of the streets. It just came from the backseat, bro.”

The court also heard Davis’s original 2008 police interview, in which he claimed he handed a loaded .40-caliber Glock to Anderson, who then fired. Prosecutors say Davis later admitted he lied during that interview to gain leverage in a drug case and repeated the story in the BET series for payment.

Mario Diaz, the series director, testified that Davis was paid between $10,000 and $20,000 for his participation, though the exact amount was uncertain. After Diaz’s testimony, prosecutors presented a 2009 interview Davis gave to a Las Vegas detective, reiterating the same account of the shooting and describing a prior altercation that prosecutors say motivated the attack.

Davis, 63, has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder with use of a deadly weapon. He has been detained since his September 2023 arrest and faces a potential life sentence without parole if convicted.