Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal opened the murder trial of 63‑year‑old Duane “Keffe D” Davis in Las Vegas by telling jurors that, although Davis did not fire the weapon that killed rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996, he orchestrated the attack in retaliation for the beating of his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson.
Prosecution’s narrative
Palal presented video evidence of Shakur’s entourage confronting Anderson outside a boxing match at the MGM Grand hours before the fatal drive‑by on September 7, 1996. According to the prosecutor, Davis spent the next two hours plotting revenge, which culminated in the shooting that left Shakur dead and his business partner Marion “Suge” Knight wounded.
The state is seeking a life sentence for Davis on a charge of murder with a deadly weapon committed to further or assist a criminal gang. Davis has entered a not‑guilty plea.
Evidence presented
Jurors heard audio from a 2008 federal task‑force interview in which Davis described handing a gun to men in the back seat of a white Cadillac that opened fire on a black BMW carrying Shakur and Knight. The prosecution also introduced a 2019 memoir co‑authored by Davis, titled “Compton Street Legend,” along with several prior interviews.
Family members of Shakur, including step‑brother Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur, sat in the courtroom and listened as the prosecution recounted Davis’s longstanding hatred for the rapper.
Defense response
Defense attorney Michael Sanft characterized the prosecution’s case as “fiction,” asserting that there are no factual bases for the allegations. He argued that law‑enforcement officials previously dismissed Davis as “full of crap” and highlighted missing documents and alleged bias in the original investigation.
Sanft also noted the passage of thirty years since the shooting, suggesting that memory decay will hinder reliable testimony. He likened Davis’s alleged behavior to a family member who “talks nonsense,” emphasizing the difficulty of securing accurate recollections after such a long interval.
Related testimony
Former Los Angeles Police Department detective Fred Miller testified remotely that Davis had briefly been a suspect in the 1997 killing of rapper Christopher Wallace (the Notorious B.I.G.). However, the judge, with agreement from prosecutors, instructed jurors that police do not believe Davis was involved in that case.
The prosecution plans to call between 35 and 45 witnesses, many of whom are now deceased. Retired Las Vegas police officer Garry Dale testified that he and another officer stopped Shakur’s vehicle for a missing license plate, warned the occupants, and later responded to the shooting call that found Shakur being pulled from the car.
Witness accounts
Ingrid Stokes described hearing gunshots while driving near the scene and later being treated by police as a suspect. She expressed fear of retaliation, recalling the street saying, “Snitches get stitches.” Former homicide detective Brent Becker testified that Suge Knight appeared timid during a police interview and seemed to withhold information.
The trial is expected to last about a month, with the prosecution aiming to hold Davis accountable for a killing that has remained unsolved for three decades.
Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.
