The jury heard opening statements from both sides in the Las Vegas trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis, who is charged in connection with rapper Tupac Shakur’s death in 1996.
The 63-year-old Davis is charged with murder involving the use of a deadly weapon to support, advance or promote gang activity. Prosecutors argue that Davis organized, planned and directed the attack as an act of revenge.
Prosecutors cited the attack at the MGM Grand
Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal said in his opening statement that Davis was not the shooter but was the attack’s planner. Palal argued that Davis had harbored intense anger toward Shakur for years after Shakur’s group beat Davis’s nephew, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson.
Prosecutors presented the jury with footage showing Shakur’s group attacking Anderson at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996. Prosecutors said Davis spent approximately two hours planning a response after the incident.
Davis’s FBI interviews used in the trial
Davis acknowledged in interviews with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1998 and 1999 that he was in Las Vegas on the night of the murder. However, he denied having any responsibility for or connection to Shakur’s killing.
Davis was linked to the murder after a 2008 interview with a federal task force investigating the killing of Shakur’s rival, Christopher Wallace, known as The Notorious B. I. G. Davis told investigators that he provided guns to people in the back seat of a white Cadillac, who then fired at the black BMW carrying Shakur.
Prosecutors also argued that Davis’s 2019 memoir, "Compton Street Legend," contains details about his role in Shakur’s murder. Palal told the jury that Davis was the only person who had struggled to speak about the incident and that the time had come for him to be held accountable.
Defendant denies the charge
Davis denied the charge. Defense attorneys argued that the case lacked sufficient facts, while Michael Sanft said the account presented by prosecutors as evidence was fiction rather than fact.
