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A dispute about fact vs. fiction at the trial over Tupac Shakur's 1996 killing
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Duane Davis appears in court during his murder trial, related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. Steve Marcus/POOL Reuters via AP hide caption toggle caption Steve Marcus/POOL Reuters via AP LAS VEGAS — A prosecutor said Monday that while few have been willing to speak about the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur, Duane "Keffe D" Davis is the "one person who has a hard time being silent." "Let's be clear, Duane Davis did not pull the trigger. But he did plan the shooting in retaliation of the beating of his nephew," Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors at the start of Davis' Las Vegas trial. "Remarkably, you will learn that from Duane Davis himself." Davis, 63, could get life in prison if he's convicted of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer in the defense opening called the prosecution's narrative "fiction." Palal showed jurors video of Shakur's entourage attacking Davis' nephew Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson outside the boxing match at the MGM Grand hours before the shooting on Sept. 7, 1996. Davis spent the next two hours planning how to get even, said Palal, and Shakur was gunned down "in an act of revenge." Shakur remains a cultural icon and is considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time, despite dying at 25. What he told the FBI and investigators In a 2008 interview with a federal task force investigating the killing of Shakur's rival, the Notorious B.I.G., Davis instead talked about the Shakur shooting. He described handing a gun to the men in the backseat of a white Cadillac that fired on a black BMW with Shakur and Marion "Suge" Knight inside. As prosecutors played audio of Davis explaining the moment Shakur was shot, members of Shakur's family, including his stepbrother Maurice "Mopreme" Shakur, stared ahead and listened intently from the audience. Palal told jurors Davis held onto a visceral hatred for Shakur for decades that drove him to speak. He said the defendant talked to the FBI in 1998 and again in 1999, admitting he had been in Las Vegas at the time of the shooting. In 2009, he admitted to his role in the killing in an interview with Las Vegas police, Palal said. "And now 30 years later, we're going to ask you to finally hold Duane Davis accountable," Palal said. He also showed jurors the 2019 memoir that Davis co-authored, "Compton Street Legend," that the prosecution will use and that the defense fought to keep out of the trial, along with several of the defendant's interviews. How Davis' legal team is defending him Davis, wearing a blue suit and tie, sat quietly with his hands folded on the table in front of him, occasionally nodding along as his attorney gave his opening, and often scanned the room during testimony to see who was in the gallery. Duane Davis listens as Brent Becker, a retired Las Vegas Metro Police Department homicide detective, testifies by video feed during his murder trial, related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, in Las Vegas. Steve Marcus/Pool Reuters via AP hide caption toggle caption Steve Marcus/Pool Reuters via AP "What they are telling you, they are representing as fact, when it's really fiction," Michael Sanft said. "There's no facts." He said Davis wasn't previously charged because law enforcement knew that he was "full of crap." The defense attorney also pointed to missing documents in the original investigation and distrust between police departments. He called one detective's work "biased," "sloppy" and "incomplete." Sanft said outside court at the end of the day that he thought the 30 years that had elapsed would help Davis. "The length of time is going to be a huge problem for people trying to recall things, to remember thing
Three decades after the killing of Tupac Shakur shocked the music world, a man in his 60s is finally going on trial for allegedly orchestrating the shooting.The mystery of who killed the rapper has intrigued fans and conspiracy theorists alike since 1996. The trial of 63-year-old Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis could soon put the question to rest.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Suspect in rapper Tupac Shakur’s killing makes first court appearance in USlist 2 of 3How South Africa’s Famo music gave birth to Lesotho’s ‘terrorist’ gangslist 3 of 3Assata Shakur, US Black liberation activist exiled in Cuba, dies at 78end of listDavis’s trial is set to begin on Monday in Las Vegas. He is charged with one count of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang.United States prosecutors aim to prove it was Davis who orchestrated Tupac’s killing by supplying the gun – but they are not claiming he pulled the trigger.Here’s what we know:Who was Tupac Shakur?Tupac Amaru Shakur, known popularly as Tupac or 2Pac, was a California-based rapper who became an icon of the genre during a short but glittering career in the 1990s. He released several Billboard-topping albums throughout his career, and more posthumously.The rapper’s music drew heavily on his experiences of violence on the streets of California, as well as themes of gang life, single motherhood, love and romance, civil rights, and racism and police violence in America.Tupac was signed to Death Row Records later in his career, and the affiliation played an influential role in his music. A defining theme of his career was a rivalry with East Coast rapper The Notorious B.I.G., a beef that led to the release of some of the two rappers’ most popular songs.Tupac was involved in gang violence. He had previously survived another shooting before being fatally wounded in a drive-by attack in Nevada on September 7, 1996. He died six days later. He was 25.What do we know about the night Tupac died?Hours before his shooting, Tupac – alongside Death Row Records founder Marion ‘Suge’ Knight – got into a fight at the MGM Grand after a Mike Tyson boxing match. The group they fought with included Davis’s nephew, Orlando ‘Baby Lane’ Anderson.Hours later, Tupac was shot six times from a white Cadillac while in a car on his way to a club he was set to perform at in Las Vegas.Defendant Davis was one of four men in the Cadillac, authorities said.The other three, including Davis’s nephew Anderson, have all died in the years since. Neither the car nor the gun used in the shooting had been recovered.This undated photo provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows the bloodied driver’s seat that was occupied by Marion ‘Suge’ Knight in a car rapper Tupac Shakur was fatally shot in September 1996, in Las Vegas [File: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP]Who is Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis, accused of orchestrating Tupac’s killing?Davis is the only person to have ever been put on trial for killing Tupac. He entered a not guilty plea in November 2023.Davis is the former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, a California gang that has long been suspected of playing a part in Tupac’s murder. The gang had a rivalry with the Mob Piru gang, of which Tupac and Knight were affiliates.Davis has been in jail since 2023 awaiting trial for his role in Tupac’s murder. In 2025, Davis was found guilty of battery following a fight in jail, Nevada media reported.Why is a trial for Tupac’s killing happening now?This trial is happening entirely because of Davis’s own words. His 2019 memoir – titled Compton Street Legend – opens in Las Vegas on the night of Tupac’s killing, and Davis explains in detail how he hunted the rapper and Knight through the city over the fight involving his nephew.He wrote that he got a gun, entered a Cadillac with three others and drove around looking for Tupac and Knight. They spotted Tupac in a car and then pulled up next to it, he wro
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