In September 1996, rap star Tupac Shakur was gunned down in a drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas strip, succumbing days later to his injuries. His killing, which remained unsolved for decades, gave rise to fervent conspiracy theories and conjecture. Thirty years later, one man is facing trial for the ambush: Duane “Keffe D” Davis.
Authorities do not accuse Davis, a former gang leader, of firing the shots that killed Tupac. Rather, prosecutors allege he orchestrated the attack and provided the murder weapon. Opening statements in the trial of Davis, 63, are set to begin on Monday, a long-awaited moment in the case.
The trial, expected to last four weeks, may not resolve the question of who killed Shakur, but members of his family have described it as the culmination of years of grief and trauma. Davis has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge. If convicted, he could face life in prison without parole.
Prosecutors have hinged their case on Davis’s 2019 memoir, in which he touted his status as one of the last surviving eyewitnesses to the deadly shooting. During a trip to Las Vegas to watch a Mike Tyson boxing match, Davis’s nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, got into an altercation with Shakur and his entourage, according to the memoir, titled Compton Street Legend. Davis hatched a plan to find Shakur, his label head, Marion “Suge” Knight, and other Death Row Records affiliates, he wrote.
He brought a 0.40 Glock into a car they were traveling in. Tupac made an erratic move and began to reach down beneath his seat. It was the first and only time in my life that I could relate to the police command to, ‘Keep your hands where I can see them.’ Instead, Pac pulled out a strap, and that’s when the fireworks started.
One of my guys from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started bustin’ back,” he continued. Davis did not specify who reached for the weapon. Authorities suspect his nephew, who died in a 1998 unrelated shootout, or another passenger, Deandre “Big Dre” Smith, who died in 2004, pulled the trigger, according to court documents.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
