Trial Date to Be Set for Former Gang Chief Accused of 1996 Tupac Shakur Murder

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A one-time gang leader from Southern California, implicated in the infamous murder of legendary rapper Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas, is set to be given a trial date this Tuesday. The hearing will likely schedule the proceedings for the following year.

Duane Keith “Keffe D” Davis, the accused, could receive a life sentence if found guilty of the high-profile homicide, although the death penalty is not being sought. Last Thursday, Davis entered a plea of not guilty and is currently detained in Las Vegas.

Now 60, Davis hails from Compton, California, and was apprehended on September 29 near a residence in the Las Vegas area, which had been the subject of a police search warrant executed on July 17.

Davis, who has confessed to planning the drive-by shooting that led to Shakur’s death at the tender age of 25 and the injury of the prominent rap industry figure Marion “Suge” Knight, has made these admissions in a number of interviews and a revealing 2019 autobiography.

The 58-year-old Knight is currently incarcerated, serving a 28-year sentence in a California state prison following the 2015 manslaughter of a businessman from Compton.

Of those present in the car from which the fatal shots were discharged, Davis is the last surviving individual. Additionally, he has disclosed a cancer diagnosis.

The prosecution argues that the murder was a culmination of escalating tensions between competing East Coast and West Coast factions vying for control in the rap subgenre known as “gangsta rap.” It was presented to the grand jury that shortly before the shooting, Shakur had an altercation at a casino on the Las Vegas Strip with Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, aged 22 at the time.

Anderson, who was implicated but consistently denied any role in Shakur’s death, was himself killed in a gunfire incident in Compton two years later.

Davis has self-incriminated in the course of several interviews and in his autobiographical work that charts his experience as a Crips gang faction leader in Compton.

He claimed to have been offered immunity from prosecution back in 2010 after disclosing to Los Angeles authorities his knowledge regarding the murders of Shakur and another renowned rapper, Christopher Wallace, also known as The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, which occurred six months later in Los Angeles.

Shakur’s legacy includes five chart-topping albums, six Grammy Award nominations, and his 2017 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In recognition of his enduring impact, he was posthumously honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this year.

Additionally, a street in Oakland, California, where Shakur resided in the 1990s, was renamed last Friday to pay tribute to his memory.

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More about Tupac Shakur murder trial

• Tupac Shakur’s Legacy
• Keffe D’s 2019 Memoir
• East Coast vs. West Coast Rap Rivalry
• Suge Knight’s Incarceration
• The Notorious B.I.G.’s Unsolved Murder Case
• Drive-By Shootings and Gang Violence in Hip-Hop Culture
• Las Vegas Police Department Press Releases
• Legal Proceedings in High-Profile Murder Cases
• Historical Impact of “Gangsta Rap”
• Hip-Hop Artists in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame