The Tupac murder trial has opened in Las Vegas with prosecutors accusing former gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis of organising the drive-by shooting that killed the legendary rapper in 1996.
Prosecutors told jurors that Davis did not personally fire the weapon but allegedly planned the attack as revenge after his nephew, Orlando Anderson, was involved in a confrontation with Tupac Shakur hours before the shooting.
Davis, 63, has pleaded not guilty and denies the murder charge. His defence team has described the prosecution’s case as a flawed investigation built around unreliable evidence gathered over several decades.
Tupac murder trial focuses on alleged revenge plot
Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors that Davis was the leader behind the group responsible for the attack.
“Let’s be clear, Duane Davis did not pull the trigger. But he did plan the shooting in retaliation of the beating of his nephew,” Palal said during opening arguments.
Prosecutors said Davis himself provided information about the shooting through a memoir and interviews over the years. They pointed to his 2019 memoir, in which he described being in the vehicle involved in the attack and claimed he supplied the gun to Anderson.
Davis has since distanced himself from parts of the book, arguing that he did not write everything in it and that some sections were fictionalised to increase sales.
His lawyer, Michael Sanft, questioned why the case had remained unresolved for almost 30 years.
“What facts do they have after 30 years?” Sanft asked the jury.
Police struggled to solve the 1996 shooting
The first prosecution witness was Garry Dale, a former Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer who responded to the shooting in September 1996.
Dale told the court that he travelled with Shakur in an ambulance after the rapper was shot. According to his testimony, Shakur declined to identify his attackers or explain what had happened.
“We’ll take care of it,” Shakur reportedly told the officer.
The investigation was complicated by tensions surrounding the hip-hop industry at the time, particularly the rivalry between the East Coast and West Coast rap scenes and conflicts involving the Bloods and Crips street gangs.
Police have previously said witnesses were reluctant to cooperate, contributing to the lack of arrests. Members of Shakur’s entourage, however, have accused investigators of treating them as suspects and failing to properly pursue potential leads.
Prosecutors told jurors that the gang culture of the era contributed to a climate in which “silence means survival”.
They also argued that Davis was an exception, pointing to statements he made about the case between 1998 and 2003.
Prosecutors link Davis to Tupac shooting Tupac murder trial
The prosecution alleges that Davis believed the confrontation involving Anderson could not “go unanswered”.
According to prosecutors, Davis obtained a firearm and organised two vehicles to travel to a Las Vegas club. One was a white Cadillac carrying Davis, Anderson and two other men.
The group initially planned to get drinks and return to the Las Vegas Strip, prosecutors said. Their plans allegedly changed after they spotted a group of vehicles containing Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight.
Palal told jurors that Davis and the others decided to turn around and confront Shakur and Knight.
Prosecutors allege that Davis was sitting in the passenger seat and handed a gun to Anderson, who then fired at Shakur’s vehicle.
Shakur was 25 when he was shot after attending a Mike Tyson boxing match in Las Vegas on 7 September 1996. He died six days later.
Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, is accused of acting as the group’s “on-ground, on-site commander” and ordering the attack.
Witness recalls moment gunshots rang out Tupac murder trial
Ingrid Stokes, who was in Las Vegas on the night of the shooting, also testified during the opening day.
Stokes said she and friends had been driving around the city when they encountered Knight and Shakur. One of her friends knew Knight, and the group was invited to follow them to a nightclub.
While travelling through Las Vegas, Stokes said she noticed another vehicle attempting to move in front of them.
The group eventually stopped and changed drivers because they were concerned about the vehicle following them.
“We were head down, taking our seat belts off, when we heard the gunshots,” Stokes testified. “All hell broke loose.”
Defence challenges evidence against Davis Tupac murder trial
Davis’s lawyers have argued that the prosecution’s case is weakened by missing police reports, disputed evidence and what they describe as “biased, sloppy and incomplete” investigative work.
They also claim prosecutors are relying on witnesses with criminal histories, financial incentives and conflicting accounts of events.
The defence has questioned whether witnesses altered their stories over the years because of money, media attention or information provided by investigators.
Davis’s memoir has become a central part of the prosecution’s case. His lawyers previously argued that the book should not be admitted as evidence, but a judge ruled that prosecutors could use it during the trial.
The trial began after approximately a week of jury selection and is expected to feature testimony from witnesses, investigators and experts. Celebrity witnesses could also be called to provide evidence about events surrounding the night Shakur was shot.
The case marks a major development in one of the most prominent unsolved murder investigations in music history and could finally determine whether Davis was responsible for orchestrating the attack that ended Tupac Shakur’s life.
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Image: Tupac Shakur performing during his career, or a courtroom image from the Las Vegas murder trial.
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Suggested Video: Opening statements and courtroom coverage from the Tupac murder trial.
