Who killed Tupac? What to know about the trial of Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis

Three decades after the killing of Tupac Shakur shocked the music world, a man in his 60s is finally going on trial for allegedly orchestrating the shooting. The trial of 63-year-old Duane “Keffe D” Davis is set to begin on Monday in Las Vegas. He faces one count of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. On September 7, 1996, Tupac Shakur, known popularly as Tupac or 2Pac, was fatally wounded in a drive-by attack in Nevada. He died six days later at the age of 25. Tupac was a California-based rapper who became an icon of the genre during a short but glittering career in the 1990s. He released several Billboard-topping albums throughout his career, many of which were posthumously released. His music drew heavily on his experiences of violence on the streets of California, as well as themes of gang life, single motherhood, love and romance, civil rights, and racism and police violence in America. Tupac was signed to Death Row Records later in his career, and the affiliation played an influential role in his music. A defining theme of his career was a rivalry with East Coast rapper The Notorious B.I.G., a beef that led to the release of some of the two rappers’ most popular songs. Tupac was involved in gang violence and had previously survived another shooting before being fatally wounded in this drive-by attack. The night of the shooting, hours before the incident, Tupac was involved in a fight at the MGM Grand after a Mike Tyson boxing match. The group he fought with included Davis’s nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson. Hours later, Tupac was shot six times from a white Cadillac while in a car on his way to a club he was set to perform at in Las Vegas. Defendant Davis was one of four men in the Cadillac, authorities said. The other three, including Davis’s nephew Anderson, have all died in the years since. Neither the car nor the gun used in the shooting had been recovered. Duane “Keffe D” Davis is the only person to have ever been put on trial for killing Tupac. He entered a not guilty plea in November 2023. Davis is the former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, a California gang that has long been suspected of playing a part in Tupac’s murder. The gang had a rivalry with the Mob Piru gang, of which Tupac and Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight were affiliates. Davis has been in jail since 2023 awaiting trial for his role in Tupac’s murder. In 2025, Davis was found guilty of battery following a fight in jail, according to Nevada media reports. This trial is happening entirely because of Davis’s own words. His 2019 memoir, titled Compton Street Legend, opens in Las Vegas on the night of Tupac’s killing and explains in detail how he hunted the rapper and Knight through the city over the fight involving his nephew. He wrote that he obtained a gun, entered a Cadillac with three others, and drove around looking for Tupac and Knight. They spotted Tupac in a car, and the confrontation that followed resulted in his fatal shooting. Prosecutors aim to prove it was Davis who orchestrated Tupac’s killing by supplying the gun, though they are not claiming he pulled the trigger. The case has drawn attention not only for its historical significance but also for the unresolved questions surrounding the circumstances of the shooting. The trial will likely provide new insights into the events leading up to Tupac’s death and the roles played by those involved. As the trial begins, the focus will remain on the evidence presented and the testimonies offered by witnesses and experts.