Nearly 30 years after Tupac Shakur was shot in Las Vegas, the only man charged in connection with the rapper’s death is finally facing trial. Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who has long been linked to the case, is accused of orchestrating the 1996 killing and providing the weapon used in the attack.
Jury selection in Davis’ trial began on Monday, August 10. He faces one count of murder with a deadly weapon with prosecutors alleging that the crime was carried out to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. Davis has pleaded not guilty and has maintained his innocence.
The case has remained one of hip hop’s biggest mysteries with Davis’ own memoir, past interviews and a Netflix docuseries about Sean “Diddy” Combs now forming part of the wider story surrounding the prosecution.
What Happened To Tupac Shakur In 1996?
On September 7, 1996, Tupac was travelling through Paradise, Nevada, in a BMW driven by Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight. The two had been in Las Vegas earlier that evening for the Mike Tyson fight.
While their car was stopped at a red light, a white Cadillac pulled up alongside them. Someone inside the vehicle opened fire with a Glock .22 pistol.
Tupac was hit four times with bullets striking his chest, arm and thigh. Knight was also grazed in the head. Tupac was taken to hospital but died from his injuries six days later, on September 13, 1996.
Why Was Orlando Anderson Linked To The Shooting?
The events earlier that night became an important part of the investigation. Hours before Tupac was shot, he and members of his entourage attacked Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson in the lobby of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Anderson was a member of the South Side Compton Crips and had reportedly been identified by an associate of Tupac’s in connection with an attempted robbery.
The confrontation became part of the possible motive for the later shooting.
Police arrested Anderson on October 2 in connection with Tupac’s killing but released him the same day without charging him. He continued to be suspected of being the gunman, although he was never prosecuted for Tupac’s murder.
The violence did not end there. Two days after the shooting, members of the South Side Crips and Mob Pirus Bloods became involved in a wider gang conflict that resulted in three deaths. Anderson was also shot in the leg and later used a wheelchair.
Tupac’s mother, Afeni Shakur, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Anderson on September 12. The case was settled before Anderson was killed in another gang shooting in 1998.
So Where Does Keffe D Come Into The Case?
Davis is Anderson’s uncle and was in the white Cadillac during the shooting, according to the case against him.
Although Anderson was long suspected of being the person who fired the shots, investigators also focused on Davis because of his own accounts of what happened that night.
The case gained attention through the work of former LAPD detective Greg Kading who was part of the task force that investigated the murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G.
In his 2011 book Murder Rap: The Untold Story of the Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations, Kading included portions of a 2008 police interview with Davis. In that interview, Davis claimed that Sean “Diddy” Combs had offered him $1 million to assassinate Tupac and Knight.
According to the material cited by Variety, Davis said, “[Diddy] took me downstairs and he’s like, ‘Man, I want to get rid of them dudes…’ I was like, We’ll wipe their ass out quick, it’s nothing.”
Diddy has denied involvement in Tupac’s death.
What Did Keffe D Say About Tupac’s Killing?
Davis continued speaking publicly about the killing over the years. In 2018, he appeared in BET’s Death Row Chronicles while promoting his upcoming memoir.
During the documentary, he discussed the weapon used in the shooting and suggested that it had been passed from someone sitting in the back of the Cadillac.
When asked about who had the gun, Davis said, “Going to keep it for the code of the streets,” before adding, “It just came from the backseat, bro.”
A year later, Davis published Compton Street Legend, a memoir in which he described himself as one of the few surviving eyewitnesses to Tupac’s killing.
The book became particularly important to investigators.
How Did Keffe D’s Memoir Become Evidence?
In Compton Street Legend, Davis described getting a Glock and entering the white Cadillac with three other people. He said they were looking for revenge against Tupac and Knight following the earlier confrontation involving Anderson.
Davis wrote, “No words exchanged, the time for talking had passed, the shit was about to go down!”
He then described what happened inside the car, writing, “Tupac made an erratic move and began to reach down beneath his seat. Pac pulled out a strap, and that’s when the fireworks started. One of my guys from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started bustin’ back.”
According to The New York Times, a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department detective working on the cold case came across Davis’ memoir and used material from it during the investigation. Prosecutors later read excerpts from the book to a grand jury in 2023 which eventually indicted Davis.
A prosecutor on the case, Marc DiGiacomo, argued that Davis’ decision to publicly discuss the killing ultimately helped bring the case to court.
He said during a hearing last month, “Had he never decided to take money and go on BET and talk about this situation, had he decided to never write the book, he would not, probably, have ever been prosecuted for the crime.”
Davis’ defence has a different view.
His lawyer Michael Sanft argued that investigators were placing too much importance on Davis’ claims, saying during a hearing, “We’re putting way too much credence and value and weight on statements that are made for entertainment purposes only.”
What Is Sean “Diddy” Combs Connection?
The case has also been connected to Diddy through allegations that date back decades.
The Netflix docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning, directed by Alexandria Stapleton and produced by 50 Cent, revisited claims surrounding Tupac’s killing. Released on Netflix in December 2025, the four-part series included allegations that Diddy had spoken about paying for the deaths of Tupac and Knight.
The series also revisited parts of Davis’ 2008 police interview in which he claimed that Diddy had offered him $1 million.
Diddy has denied any involvement in Tupac’s death.
Tupac’s estate also filed a civil lawsuit against Davis in April, arguing that material from the grand jury proceedings and the Netflix documentary pointed towards what it described as a wider conspiracy surrounding the rapper’s murder.
When Was Keffe D Arrested?
The investigation took another major turn in 2023.
On July 18, 2023, Las Vegas police searched the home of Davis’ wife in Henderson, Nevada, as part of the investigation. Davis was arrested on September 29 that year.
He has remained in custody while awaiting trial. He is currently being held at Nevada’s High Desert State Prison on a separate conviction linked to a jailhouse fight, for which he received a sentence of 16 to 40 months.
What Happens Next In The Tupac Murder Trial?
Davis’ trial is expected to last around a month. He is facing the murder charge in connection with Tupac’s death and has pleaded not guilty.
Although Nevada law allows prosecutors to seek the death penalty in certain first-degree murder cases, prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against Davis.
