The murder trial of former gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis over the 1996 killing of American rapper Tupac Shakur has opened in Las Vegas, with prosecutors alleging that Davis organised the shooting as revenge for an attack on his nephew.
Davis, 63, is accused of being involved in the fatal drive-by shooting that left Shakur critically injured.
The rapper was shot on September 7, 1996, while travelling through Las Vegas with Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight. He died several days later.
Davis has pleaded not guilty and is the only surviving member of the group prosecutors say was inside the vehicle from which the shots were fired.
Opening the prosecution’s case, chief deputy district attorney Binu Palal told jurors that Davis was the person directing the operation.
“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.
“Remarkably, you will learn that from Duane Davis himself.”
The prosecution displayed footage of the September 7, 1996, Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon boxing match and video showing Shakur’s entourage assaulting Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, Davis’s nephew, earlier that night.
Prosecutors allege that the confrontation prompted Davis to seek revenge against Shakur and Knight.
They also relied on statements Davis made over the years, including accounts contained in a 2019 memoir, which authorities consider important evidence in the case.
Davis’s lawyer, Michael Sanft, challenged the prosecution’s case, arguing that investigators have had three decades to establish their allegations but still lack sufficient evidence.
“At the end of the day you have to ask yourself: is what they are saying truth or fiction?” Sanft told the jury.
The defence also argued that Davis had spoken with law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, about the shooting but that investigators did not act on his accounts because they considered them unreliable.
The first prosecution witness, former Las Vegas police officer Garry Dale, told the court that he had stopped Shakur and Knight earlier that night because their vehicle did not have a rear licence plate.
He described the encounter as “congenial”.
Dale later rode in an ambulance with Shakur after the rapper was shot.
He said he attempted to persuade Shakur to identify his attackers, but the rapper responded: “No, we’ll take care of it.”
Another witness, Ingrid Stokes, said she was travelling in a nearby vehicle with friends when the shooting occurred.
According to her testimony, both cars were heading towards the same nightclub when she heard gunfire.
“We heard the gunshots … all hell broke loose,” she said.
Stokes acknowledged that she did not see the occupants of the vehicle that opened fire.
She said she was also reluctant to speak to police at the time because she feared being regarded as a “snitch”.
Former homicide detective Brent Becker also testified about his investigation into the shooting.
He recalled interviewing Knight after the attack and described the record executive as “very timid”, adding that he had three lawyers with him.
“He just basically said he didn’t know anything. He didn’t recognize anybody.”
Becker said investigators received information from Los Angeles police about possible links between Shakur’s killing and other conflicts but struggled to find witnesses willing to testify in court.
“The problem was it was all from informants. We didn’t have any actual people that would come forward and testify.”
The final witness of the day was former Los Angeles police detective Fred Miller, who had previously questioned Davis during an investigation into the 1997 killing of rapper Christopher Wallace, better known as The Notorious B.I.G.
Although Davis was present at a party attended by Wallace before his death, his lawyer stressed that Davis was never charged in Wallace’s murder.
The judge also informed jurors that investigators did not believe Davis was involved in that killing.
The trial, which follows decades of speculation and conspiracy theories surrounding Shakur’s death, is expected to last about a month.
A jury comprising six men and 10 women was selected last week.
