Almost 30 years after rapper Tupac Shakur was fatally shot in Las Vegas, the one individual ever charged in his killing is about to go on trial.
Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, is scheduled to stand trial starting Monday on a homicide cost within the 1996 drive-by capturing that killed Shakur, one in all hip-hop’s most influential artists.
Davis has pleaded not responsible. Prosecutors don’t accuse him of firing the shot, however allege he helped plan the assault and offered the gun used within the capturing.
Shakur was shot Sept. 7, 1996, whereas using in a BMW pushed by Loss of life Row Data founder Marion “Suge” Knight close to the Las Vegas Strip. He died six days later at age 25.
Hours earlier than the capturing, Shakur, Knight and others have been concerned in a struggle on the MGM Grand with Orlando “Child Lane” Anderson, Davis’ nephew and a member of the South Facet Compton Crips.
Prosecutors say Davis, Anderson, Deandrae “Freaky” Smith and Terry “Bubble Up” Brown have been later using in a white Cadillac that pulled alongside Shakur’s automotive and opened fireplace.
Davis is the one one of many 4 nonetheless alive.
Authorities lengthy suspected Anderson was the gunman, though proof introduced within the case has additionally raised the likelihood that Smith fired the photographs.
No homicide weapon was recovered.
In line with The Related Press, prosecutors hope to show that Davis known as the photographs in and offered the gun used within the crime. Gunfire got here from the Cadillac that Davis was in, and he is among the solely individuals there that night time who continues to be alive.
Davis has acknowledged being within the Cadillac and mentioned the killing in interviews and in his 2019 memoir, “Compton Road Legend.” Prosecutors say these statements assist set up his function within the assault.
His attorneys, in the meantime, have argued that a few of Davis’ public statements have been exaggerated and have challenged whether or not statements he made throughout a 2008 police interview may very well be used towards him.
A Nevada choose dominated that Davis’ police interview, in addition to parts of his memoir, shall be allowed through the trial.
The trial is anticipated to final about 4 weeks. In November, Davis’ attorneys unsuccessfully sought to dismiss the fees.
“Consider it this manner: Shakur’s homicide was primarily the leisure world’s JFK assassination — endlessly dissected, mythologized, monetized — so it’s not exhausting to see why somebody in Davis’s place would possibly falsely place himself on the heart of all of it for private acquire,” his attorneys mentioned in a petition to the Nevada Supreme Courtroom that was denied.
Shakur’s legendary rap profession was highlighted by greater than 75 million information worldwide with hits together with “California Love,” “Adjustments” and “Pricey Mama.”
Fox Information Digital has reached out to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Division for remark.
Fox Information Digital’s Brie Stimson and The Related Press contributed to this report.
