The long-awaited trial for the man accused of planning Tupac Shakur‘s 1996 killing started in Las Vegas on August 17, 2026. Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, faces a murder charge connected to the drive-by shooting that ended the life of the hip-hop legend nearly 30 years ago.
The trial quickly turned into a battle over what is real and what is made up. Davis’s defense team told the jury that the prosecution’s story is not based on facts but on fiction from a memoir written to make money.
Prosecution Says Shooting Was an Act of Revenge
Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told the jury that Davis planned the shooting as payback for a fight that happened hours earlier. Shakur and his group got into a fight with Davis’s nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, at the MGM Grand Hotel after a Mike Tyson boxing match on September 7, 1996.
Palal showed the jury video of the casino fight. He said Davis spent the next two hours planning to get even.
“Let’s be clear, Duane Davis did not pull the trigger. But he did plan the shooting in retaliation of the beating of his nephew,” Palal told the jury.
Prosecutors do not claim Davis fired the shots that killed Shakur. They say he was the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of the rapper. Davis is charged with one count of murder with a deadly weapon. If found guilty, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Defense Calls the Case ‘Fiction’
Davis’s lawyer, Michael Sanft, told the jury a very different story. He said the prosecution is asking them to believe things that are not true.
“What they are telling you, they are representing as fact, when it’s really fiction,” Sanft said. “There’s no facts.”
Sanft pointed to a major problem with the case: if Davis admitted to his role in the killing in 2008 and 2009, why did it take until 2023 to charge him?
“Keffe was never charged for any of what he said during that time period, and it’s because they knew he was full of crap,” Sanft told the jury.
The defense attorney attacked the reliability of the nearly 30-year investigation. He pointed to missing police reports, problems with leaks, and distrust between police agencies. He called one detective’s work “biased,” “sloppy” and “incomplete”.
The Memoir at the Center of the Case
A big part of the trial revolves around Davis’s 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend”. In the book, Davis writes in detail about the night of the shooting.
Prosecutors plan to use the memoir as evidence against Davis. They also plan to use his interviews with police and the FBI.
Davis’s lawyers fought to keep the book out of the trial. They argue that parts of the memoir were made up to sell more copies.
Davis has distanced himself from the book, saying he did not write all of it. His lawyer said repeatedly making a claim does not make it true. “You have to corroborate everything I say in order for it to be true,” Sanft said.
A judge ruled the memoir could be used in court.
Witness Takes Jury Back to 1996
The prosecution’s first witness was Garry Dale, a former Las Vegas police officer who was working the night of the shooting. Dale told the jury about riding in an ambulance with Shakur after he was shot.
He said the rapper refused to tell police what happened or who shot him. “We’ll take care of it,” Shakur said, according to Dale’s testimony.
This lack of cooperation from Shakur and others made the investigation very difficult for police.
What Happened the Night Tupac Was Shot
Shakur was 25 years old when he was shot on September 7, 1996, after the Mike Tyson vs. Bruce Seldon boxing match at the MGM Grand. He was riding in a black BMW driven by Marion “Suge” Knight, the head of Death Row Records.
A white Cadillac pulled up next to them at a red light near the Las Vegas Strip. Shots were fired from the Cadillac. Shakur was hit four times and died in the hospital six days later. Knight had a minor injury from a bullet fragment.
Davis was a leader of the South Side Compton Crips street gang. Prosecutors say the shooting was tied to tensions between the Crips and the Mob Piru gang, which was linked to Knight and Death Row Records.
The case stayed unsolved for many years. Police said public statements Davis made in interviews and his memoir helped revive the investigation. Davis was arrested in 2023.
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Family Members in the Courtroom
Members of Shakur’s family attended the trial. They included his stepbrother Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur. They listened carefully as prosecutors played audio of Davis talking about the moment Shakur was shot.
Davis sat quietly at the defense table in a blue suit and tie. He kept his hands folded on the table and showed little emotion during the proceedings.
The trial is expected to last up to six weeks in Judge Carli Kierny’s courtroom in downtown Las Vegas. A jury was selected last week.
Also Read: Suge Knight Refuses to Testify in Tupac Shakur Murder Trial, Claims Many Were Involved
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