Thirty Years Later, Trial Opens Over Tupac Shakur's 1996 Killing — Duane "Keffe D" Davis Accused

A trial has opened in Las Vegas over the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, nearly three decades after the drive-by shooting that left the hip-hop icon dead at 25. Prosecutors say former gang leader Duane "Keffe D" Davis, 63, ordered the hit and supplied the handgun used in the attack; Davis has pleaded not guilty.

The proceedings, expected to run about a month, are unlikely to definitively identify the person who pulled the trigger. Instead, prosecutors will seek to prove Davis's role in planning and facilitating the murder, which occurred on the night of September 7, 1996, after Shakur attended a Mike Tyson fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

At the heart of the case is the long-running rivalry between West Coast label Death Row Records, led by Marion "Suge" Knight and linked to the Mob Piru faction of the Bloods, and East Coast Bad Boy Records, run by Sean "Diddy" Combs and featuring Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace. Prosecutors say tensions flared after Knight and Shakur confronted and assaulted Davis's nephew, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, earlier that night — an episode prosecutors allege motivated retaliation.

According to allegations, a white Cadillac carrying Davis, Anderson and others pulled up beside Shakur's vehicle and opened fire; Shakur was hit and later died from his wounds. Every other person reported to have been in that Cadillac has since died, complicating efforts to identify the shooter.

Compromising Memoirs

Investigators say the cold case was revived after Davis published a memoir in 2019 in which he described sitting in the front seat of the Cadillac and handing a pistol to people in the rear. Though he did not expressly admit firing the shots, those details drew renewed scrutiny and led to his arrest in September 2023.

"I'm innocent. I ain't killed nobody. Never did ever kill nobody," Davis told ABC News in a March 2025 interview from prison. He has since said he was in Los Angeles the night of the shooting and has accused his co-author of embellishing the memoir.

In pretrial proceedings, Davis's lawyers unsuccessfully sought to block the memoir and a 2008 police interview from being entered as evidence. Jury selection is scheduled to begin first and is expected to take about a week.

Beyond the criminal case, Shakur's stepbrother, Maurice Shakur, filed a wrongful-death suit in May, arguing that others involved in the killing have not been held accountable. The civil complaint references a recent documentary mini-series and includes an allegation that Sean Combs once offered $1 million to kill Shakur — a claim tied to remarks Davis made in a police interview.

Whatever the outcome, the trial is unlikely to put all questions to rest for fans and family who have long sought answers in one of America’s most notorious unsolved celebrity murders.