Tupac Shakur Murder Trial Begins 30 Years After Rapper's Death

The murder trial of former gang boss Duane "Keffe D" Davis began on Tuesday in Las Vegas, 30 years after the 1996 killing of US rapper Tupac Shakur.

Davis is the first person prosecuted in the case. Davis, 63, is charged in Clark County, Nevada, with a single count of murder using a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors argue Davis planned the shooting in retaliation for the beating of his nephew, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, by Shakur's entourage outside a boxing match at the MGM Grand hours before the shooting on September 7, 1996.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors that Davis did not pull the trigger but did plan the shooting. Palal presented videos of Shakur's entourage attacking Anderson. Prosecutors point to Davis' alleged confessions in his 2019 memoir, "Compton Street Legend," and interviews with law enforcement and media, where he described handing a gun to men in the backseat of a white Cadillac that fired on Shakur's black BMW.

Prosecutors played audio of Davis explaining the moment Shakur was shot. Davis' lawyer, Michael Sanft, called the prosecution's narrative fiction and questioned why the Clark County District Attorney's office did not charge Davis years ago. Sanft argued that no one corroborates any of this and that Davis' accounts in interviews and his book could not be corroborated, suggesting Davis had a habit of talking bullshit and parts of his memoir were fictionalized to sell copies.

Shakur died at 25 and remains a cultural icon. His killing heightened the image of violence in hip-hop culture and fueled the East Coast-West Coast rap feud. No one was charged until Davis was indicted in 2023. Members of Shakur's family, including his stepbrother Maurice "Mopreme" Shakur, attended the opening statements. The trial is expected to last weeks, with the jury to determine the facts and render a verdict.