Davis’s memoir and statements revived cold case before 2023 arrest
The man charged in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur faces trial in Las Vegas as jury selection opens Monday. Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, faces one charge of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang.
Shakur, who also went by the stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, is considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. He was shot in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996. He was in a black BMW with music mogul Marion “Suge” Knight on their way to Club 662, where Shakur was scheduled to perform, when a white Cadillac pulled up beside them.
Gunfire erupted. Shakur, in the passenger seat, was shot multiple times and died six days later, while Knight survived.
The case went cold until recent years, when public statements and a tell-all memoir from Davis revived it. Davis was a leader of the South Side Compton Crips at the time of Shakur’s death.
Davis was arrested in 2023 and pleaded not guilty. Jury selection begins Monday, and the trial is scheduled to last about a month.