Las Vegas – The murder trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, accused of directing the 1996 killing of hip‑hop legend Tupac Shakur, is moving toward closing arguments scheduled for Monday. Over two dozen witnesses have testified, and the defense has rested its case after nine days of testimony.
Defense witnesses
The defense called three former Las Vegas police officers and retired homicide detective Dan Long as its final witnesses. Long testified that he could not independently verify key details Davis provided in a 2009 police interview, including hospital records for Davis’s nephew and the rental of a white Cadillac allegedly used in the shooting.
Long also acknowledged that his knowledge of the Cadillac came solely from Davis’s own statements, and he had no external evidence confirming Davis’s presence in the vehicle on the night of the murder.
Prosecution’s case
Prosecutors countered that Davis’s account aligns with information already gathered by investigators. Former Compton gang detective Robert Ladd described Davis as a high‑ranking “shot caller” who could order younger gang members to fire. Ladd testified that the four men identified by Davis as being in the Cadillac matched the four individuals investigators believed were present.
The prosecution also presented short clips from Davis’s YouTube interviews, in which he urged viewers to purchase his book for “the real truth,” and a clip where he appeared to mouth words toward a witness discussing the rivalry between Death Row Records and Bad Boy Entertainment.
Trial timeline
After closing arguments and jury instructions, the 16‑person jury – ten women and six men – will begin deliberations. Davis, 63, has not taken the stand and maintains a not‑guilty plea. If convicted of murder with a deadly weapon in furtherance of a criminal gang, he faces life in prison.
The trial marks the first criminal proceeding in the decades‑long investigation of Shakur’s death, which occurred on September 7, 1996, after a white Cadillac pulled up beside Shakur’s BMW near the Las Vegas Strip during a heavyweight boxing event at the MGM Grand.
Original reporting: NBC4 Los Angeles — read the source article.
