LAS VEGAS — A Las Vegas court will begin jury selection on Monday in the murder trial over rapper Tupac Shakur’s death, nearly three years after authorities arrested Duane “Keffe D” Davis in connection with the 1996 killing.
Prosecutors accuse Davis of orchestrating Shakur’s murder and charge him with murder using a deadly weapon, alleging that he committed the crime to promote, further or assist a criminal gang.
Shakur was shot in a drive-by attack in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996. He was travelling in the passenger seat of a car driven by former Death Row Records chief Marion “Suge” Knight.
The rapper was taken to hospital but died six days later, aged 25. The case remained unresolved for decades and became the subject of widespread speculation and competing theories surrounding the circumstances of Shakur’s death.
Davis accused of helping organise shooting
Las Vegas authorities arrested former South Side Compton Crips gang leader Davis in September 2023 after they searched a property linked to the investigation two months earlier.
Prosecutors do not accuse Davis of firing the fatal shots.
Prosecutors allege that he helped organise the attack and provided the weapon used in the shooting.
Davis had previously discussed his alleged involvement in Shakur’s killing, including in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend. In the book, he said he had provided the gun used in the shooting.
Prosecutors have cited the memoir as evidence in the case.
Davis, however, has pleaded not guilty and has distanced himself from the statements in the book, arguing that he made them for entertainment and commercial purposes.
His lawyers have also challenged the importance prosecutors have placed on the memoir.
“We’re putting way too much credence and value and weight on statements that are made for entertainment purposes only,” Davis’s legal team said last month, according to The New York Times.
East Coast-West Coast rivalry
Shakur’s killing became closely associated with the bitter East Coast-West Coast rivalry that dominated American hip-hop during the 1990s. At the time, Shakur signed with Death Row Records, which had links to the Bloods, while Sean “Diddy” Combs ran Bad Boy Records, Death Row’s East Coast rival.
Combs has repeatedly denied any involvement in Shakur’s killing.
Former Death Row chief Knight, who is serving a prison sentence for an unrelated fatal hit-and-run, has also said he will not cooperate with authorities in the case.
In a recent interview with ABC News, Knight said the trial did not concern him and warned that bringing him into the proceedings could hurt those who did so.
Trial expected to last about a month
Davis remains the only person authorities have arrested in connection with Shakur’s killing since the rapper died in 1996. Jury selection will likely take several days before lawyers present opening arguments and witnesses begin testifying.
The trial will likely last about a month. If convicted, Davis could face life in prison. The case has drawn renewed attention nearly three decades after Shakur’s death, bringing one of the most closely followed unsolved killings in music history into a courtroom.
Key points:
- Jury selection in the Tupac Shakur murder trial begins in Las Vegas on Monday.
- Duane “Keffe D” Davis is accused of helping orchestrate the rapper’s 1996 killing.
- Prosecutors allege Davis provided the gun used in the drive-by shooting.
- Davis has pleaded not guilty and disputes statements attributed to him in his memoir.
- The trial is expected to last about a month, with Davis facing life in prison if convicted.
