Tupac Shakur Murderer Keefe D Trial Is Set For Next Year
Duane “Keefe D” Davis, the former street gang leader accused of the murder of Tupac Shakur in a 1996 Las Vegas shooting, is set to face trial on June 3, as ruled by a Nevada judge on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
Davis, arrested in late September, nearly 27 years after Shakur’s fatal drive-by shooting, was charged with murder. Marion “Suge” Knight, co-founder of Death Row Records, who was with Shakur in the car during the incident, was also wounded and later imprisoned in 2018 for an unrelated manslaughter conviction.
While Davis was not identified as the triggerman, police alleged that he led the group responsible for the murder. Davis is the sole surviving suspect in the case, as his nephew, Orlando Anderson, suspected of being the shooter, died in a shootout two years after Shakur’s death. Two other suspects, Terry Brown and Deandrae Smith, also died before facing charges.
Davis entered a not guilty plea last week, and the state opted not to pursue the death penalty conviction. The investigations into Tupac Shakur’s killing by Los Angeles and Las Vegas Police spanned nearly 30 years.
Davis himself admitted his presence at the crime scene in various interviews, stating in a 2018 episode of BET’s Death Row Chronicles that he knew who was responsible for Tupac Shakur’s murder but intended to uphold the “code of the streets.”
In his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, Davis further detailed the incident, recounting Shakur reaching for a gun in the car, triggering a violent response. According to Davis, one of his associates seized a Glock from the back seat and began firing.
In July 2023, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) conducted a search of Davis’s home as part of the ongoing investigation, leading to his arrest three months later. Currently incarcerated in Las Vegas, Davis’s legal team is pursuing his release on bail before the impending trial, as reported by the Associated Press.
