Trial Begins for Former Gang Leader in Tupac Shakur Murder Case

A former gang leader is now on trial in Las Vegas for the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. This murder has remained unresolved for decades and is one of the most talked-about cases in America.

The trial is expected to last for a month. It may not reveal who actually fired the shots that killed Tupac on September 7, 1996. Tupac was in Las Vegas to watch a Mike Tyson fight when he was shot.

Prosecutors believe that the defendant, Duane “Keffe D” Davis, ordered the murder. They say he also provided the gun used in the drive-by shooting that killed Tupac.

Davis, who is 63 years old, could face life in prison without parole if he is found guilty.

The murder of Tupac, also known as 2Pac, is one of the most famous cold cases. It has sparked long discussions among music fans about what happened and who was responsible.

Tupac was a significant figure in the rivalry between East Coast and West Coast hip-hop artists. He was famous for songs like “California Love” and “All Eyez on Me.” He grew up in Harlem and Baltimore but became a California icon after joining Death Row Records in Los Angeles.

This trial will also look at the conflict between Death Row Records, started by Marion “Suge” Knight, and Bad Boy Records, which was run by Sean “Diddy” Combs and featured Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace, who was killed in March 1997.

Prosecutors say Death Row Records was protected by the Mob Piru gang, which is part of the Bloods alliance. Suge Knight had ties to this gang.

Bad Boy Records had hired the South Side Compton Crips, led by Davis, for security.

After the Tyson fight at MGM Grand casino, Knight and Tupac attacked Davis’s nephew, Crips member Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson. This was retaliation for an alleged attack on a Death Row employee.

Davis wanted revenge, according to the prosecution.

Later that evening, a white Cadillac with Davis, Anderson, and others drove up next to Tupac's car in Las Vegas. Shots were fired from the Cadillac, and Tupac was seriously injured.

The investigation went nowhere for years due to lack of evidence. But everything changed when Davis's memoirs were published in 2019.

In that book, Davis said he was in the front seat of the Cadillac and handed a gun to people in the back seat. However, he did not say who shot Tupac. Everyone else in the Cadillac that night has died.

These statements matched what Davis had told reporters before. But now, they led to his arrest in September 2023.

Davis has since changed his story and pleaded not guilty.

“I’m innocent. I ain’t killed nobody. Never did ever kill nobody,” Davis told ABC News in March 2025 from prison. “They don’t have no evidence against me. They can’t even put me in Las Vegas.”

Davis now claims he was in Los Angeles when Tupac was killed. He also says he has not read his own memoirs, claiming they were exaggerated by his co-author for sales.

“I just gave him details of my life,” Davis explained. “And he went and did his little investigation and wrote the book on his own.”

Before the trial, Davis’s lawyers tried to stop the book and his 2008 police interview from being used as evidence. Jury selection will start the trial and is expected to take a week.

No matter the outcome, it is unlikely to satisfy Tupac’s family.

In May, Tupac's stepbrother Maurice Shakur filed a wrongful death lawsuit in civil court. “There remain individuals who were involved in Tupac’s murder who, for 30 years, have not been held accountable for their crimes,” the complaint says.

The lawsuit mentions a recent TV mini-series titled “Sean Combs: The Reckoning,” in which Davis claims Combs offered him $1 million to kill Tupac.