Trial Opens for Duane “Keffe D” Davis in Tupac Shakur Killing

Overview

• A Las Vegas jury was seated and opening testimony began this week as the trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the only living person charged in Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder, moved forward.
• Prosecutors say Davis organized a quick retaliatory operation after a fight at the MGM Grand and supplied the Glock they say was used even though he did not fire the shots.
• The prosecution’s case depends heavily on Davis’s 2018–2019 interviews and his 2019 memoir, statements that police say prompted the cold case to be reopened and led to his 2023 arrest.
• The defense says three key people who were allegedly in the Cadillac that night are dead, police reports and some evidence are missing, and portions of the memoir may have been fictionalized or ghostwritten.
• Beyond this trial the case could shape how prosecutors pursue decades‑old cold cases based on a suspect’s admissions and will affect survivors, witnesses, and public memory of Tupac and 1990s hip‑hop violence.