Tupac Shakur murder trial begins after 3 decades, former gang leader Keffe D accused of killing rap icon

Duane 'Keffe D' Davis, a former street gang leader, pleaded not guilty as his trial opened in Las Vegas, nearly three decades after the 1996 shooting death of rapper Tupac Shakur. Davis, 63, faces a murder charge with a deadly weapon in Clark County, Nevada. Prosecutors accuse him of organizing the attack following a confrontation involving his nephew and Shakur's group at the MGM Grand casino on September 7, 1996.

Shakur was traveling in a BMW with Marion “Suge” Knight, co-founder of Death Row Records, when a white Cadillac pulled alongside their vehicle near the Las Vegas Strip. Prosecutors allege Davis was in the Cadillac with three other men and had obtained the gun used in the shooting. Shakur was struck four times and died in the hospital six days later at age 25. Knight also sustained a minor injury. Investigators had never publicly identified the shooter.

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Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis pleads not guilty as Tupac Shakur murder trial opens in Las Vegas.

The investigation remained unresolved for decades until police renewed their focus on Davis after he made public statements about the shooting. Authorities stated that Davis discussed his role in interviews and in his 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend.” According to police, Davis said he was sitting in the front passenger seat of the Cadillac and passed the gun to one of the two men sitting behind him. Under Nevada law, prosecutors do not need to prove that Davis personally fired the weapon to secure a murder conviction; they must establish his participation in the killing.

The shooting occurred after a confrontation between the South Side Compton Crips, which Davis described as leading, and the Mob Piru group, associated by police with Knight and Death Row Records. The groups were in Las Vegas for a boxing match when the fight at the MGM Grand took place. Authorities allege the shooting was carried out as retaliation. The case became closely tied to the wider East Coast-West Coast rivalry that dominated hip-hop during the 1990s, and Shakur's death intensified the violence and tension surrounding the rap scene. Knight could potentially testify, as he was with Shakur when the shooting happened and is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence for an unrelated voluntary manslaughter conviction. Shakur's killing remains one of the most closely watched unsolved crimes in music history, followed six months later by the unsolved murder of The Notorious B.I.G.

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