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What to know about the first week of trial in the killing of Tupac Shakur
23rd August, 2026 07:18 AM
In the first week of testimony at the trial of a man accused of orchestrating the killing of Tupac Shakur, the night of Sept. 7, 1996, has been run and rerun many times — through police who were at the scene, through the people near the hip-hop superstar, and through the recorded words of the suspect, Duane “Keffe D” Davis.
Many of the basic facts jurors have learned are not in dispute.
Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight were in Las Vegas to watch a Mike Tyson fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Just outside, Shakur, Knight and their entourage got into a brawl with Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson.
Later that night, Shakur and Knight were in a black BMW at a red light near the Las Vegas Strip when a white Cadillac with four men inside pulled up beside them, and someone opened fire. Shakur was shot multiple times and died six days later. Knight survived with minor injuries.
Years later, Davis would say he procured the gun and his nephew fired the shots. Davis’ lawyers have disputed the statements and fought unsuccessfully to get them excluded. The other men in the Cadillac have since died, limiting eyewitness testimony.
The dispute had its roots in the long-running feud between the Mob Piru Bloods, a gang Knight and Shakur were affiliated with, and the South Side Compton Crips, for whom Davis was a prominent leader.
A jury of six men and 10 women — four are alternates — will decide whether Davis, 63, is guilty of one count of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could get life in prison.
Here’s a closer look at the first week of the trial that is expected to last about a month.
Is Keffe D admitting old truths — or as his lawyer says, ‘full of crap’?
A prosecutor said in his opening statement that Davis’ own words — in interviews with police, podcasters and filmmakers — would prove he orchestrated the killing.
“Let’s be clear, Duane Davis did not pull the trigger. But he did plan the shooting in retaliation for the beating of his nephew,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors. “Remarkably, you will learn that from Duane Davis himself.”
“Now, 30 years later, we’re going to ask you to finally hold Duane Davis accountable,” Palal said.
Davis’ defence attorney Michael Sanft took the unusual approach of telling jurors his client’s words were all bloviating and braggadocio, and did not represent the truth.
“What they are telling you, they are representing as fact, when it’s really fiction,” said Sanft. He said Davis wasn’t previously charged because law enforcement knew that he was “full of crap.”
