Jurors will hear closing arguments Monday in the trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who is accused of orchestrating the killing of rapper Tupac Shakur. They come after nine days of testimony from detectives, former gang associates and documentarians. The trial has revisited the night nearly 30 years ago when Shakur was shot while on his way to perform at a club in Las Vegas.
Davis is the only person ever charged in Shakur’s 1996 death after he previously said he was in the Cadillac when it pulled up beside Shakur and gunfire erupted. Prosecutors argue Davis orchestrated the shooting, but his attorney argues there is no physical evidence connecting his client to the crime. Family and friends sat through days of testimony Shakur’s siblings, “Mopreme” Shakur and Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, and other family members sat in the front row of the courtroom as both prosecution and defense presented their evidence throughout the trial.
Most days, they sat quietly, looking ahead at the witnesses or television screens as prosecutors played Davis’ previous statements. They left the courtroom ahead of prosecutors’ showing jurors Shakur’s autopsy photos, grisly images of the late rapper and the wounds he sustained. Mopreme Shakur previously told The the trial would be retraumatizing for the family, but that they’d sit through it in hopes the musician would see justice.
Shakur remains a cultural icon. He is considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time and had a burgeoning film career as an actor. He died as his popularity was peaking at age 25, and his legend has only grown in the years since.
Zayd Akinyela, Shakur’s cousin, said, “I’m very spiritual, so just seeing the body doesn’t affect me the same way as it might some people. I do believe that his spirit is still around and still lives on through his family and through his legacy.” The story of the drive-by shooting has long gripped the hip-hop community, partly because no one was charged until Davis was indicted in 2023. The other three men riding in the Cadillac have all died in the years since.
Retired Las Vegas police officer Garry Dale was the first of the witnesses the prosecution called. He testified that he and another officer stopped Knight and Shakur’s car for missing a license plate, warned them and let them go. About 10 minutes later, the officers responded to a shooting call and found EMTs pulling Shakur from the car.
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