‘Keffe D’ masterminded Tupac Shakur's drive-by killing, prosecutor tells jury

Nearly three decades after Tupac Shakur was gunned down on a Las Vegas street, prosecutors have told jurors that former gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis orchestrated the rapper’s murder as an act of revenge for an earlier confrontation involving his nephew.

The case finally went before a jury on Monday, with prosecutors portraying Davis as the “shot caller” behind the September 1996 drive-by shooting that claimed the life of one of hip-hop’s most influential artists.

Davis, 63, has pleaded not guilty to murder with a deadly weapon. He is the only person ever charged in connection with Shakur’s killing.

‘He did plan the shooting’

In his opening statement, Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal acknowledged that Davis was not the person who fired the fatal shots.

“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 told jurors.

Prosecutors allege that Davis organised the attack after his nephew, Orlando Anderson, was beaten by Shakur and members of the rapper’s entourage inside the MGM Grand casino earlier that night.

“You will learn that when the opportunity presented itself for retribution, Duane Davis made sure that the shooters were armed and ready to execute their plan. And remarkably, you will learn that from Duane Davis himself,” Palal said.

Prosecutors Say ‘Keffe D’ Masterminded Tupac Shakur Killing as Long-Awaited Trial Opens

The confrontation followed the heavyweight boxing bout between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon, which had brought Shakur, Death Row Records boss Marion “Suge” Knight and members of rival Los Angeles street gangs to Las Vegas.

How the shooting unfolded

According to prosecutors, Davis and three other men were travelling in a white Cadillac while searching for Shakur and Knight after the casino altercation.

Davis allegedly obtained a firearm and passed it to one of the men in the back seat.

When they eventually caught up with the BMW carrying Shakur and Knight, shots were fired.

Shakur, 25, was struck four times. Knight, who was driving, was grazed by a bullet fragment.

The rapper died in hospital six days later.

The shooting became one of the defining tragedies of hip-hop's so-called East Coast-West Coast feud, helping cement the era's association with gang violence and ultimately becoming one of the most enduring unsolved murders in music history. 

Defence: Is it truth or fiction?

Davis's lawyer, Michael Sanft, urged jurors to question the credibility of the prosecution's 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 argues that investigators spent years without enough evidence to charge Davis and that his later accounts should not automatically be treated as confessions.

Much of the prosecution's case now rests on statements Davis made publicly over the years, including accounts contained in his 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend.”

Davis has previously described himself as being in the front passenger seat of the Cadillac and acknowledged handing a gun to someone sitting behind him. However, neither his accounts nor investigators have established who actually pulled the trigger. 

Under Nevada law, prosecutors do not necessarily have to prove that Davis fired the weapon if they can establish that he participated in the murder.

Three other men are dead

The passage of time presents an enormous challenge for both sides.

The three other men believed to have been inside the Cadillac with Davis have all died, leaving Davis as the only surviving member of the group prosecutors say was involved in the attack.

That has made his own words particularly important to the case.

Authorities say Davis's public comments in interviews beginning in 2018 helped revive an investigation that had gone cold for years. Police eventually arrested him in 2023.

The defence, however, maintains that Davis's stories were unreliable and that he had reasons to embellish his involvement.

Suge Knight could testify

The trial is expected to last several weeks and could feature testimony from Marion “Suge” Knight, who was driving the car when Shakur was shot.

Knight, a co-founder of Death Row Records, survived the attack and is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence for an unrelated voluntary manslaughter conviction.

His potential appearance would add another major figure from the turbulent world surrounding Shakur's final hours to a trial already carrying enormous cultural weight.

A murder that changed hip-hop

Shakur's death at 25 had consequences far beyond the immediate crime.

His murder intensified the atmosphere surrounding the rivalry between the West Coast and East Coast rap scenes, while the killing of fellow superstar rapper Christopher Wallace — The Notorious B.I.G. — in Los Angeles six months later fuelled speculation that the two murders were connected.

Wallace's killing remains unsolved.

For almost 30 years, theories surrounding both deaths have circulated across hip-hop culture, despite the absence of convictions.

Now, prosecutors are asking a jury to decide whether Davis was the man who turned an earlier casino brawl into a revenge mission that ended with Shakur's death.

The central question is no longer simply who fired the gun.

It is whether prosecutors can convince jurors that Davis organised and enabled the killing — and that his own words provide the missing link between the 1996 shooting and the man sitting in court today.