On Tuesday, the Las Vegas courtroom hearing the murder trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis entered a tense second day. Former Death Row Records security head James McDonald, a 61‑year‑old grandfather who once ran security for Suge Knight’s Club 662, took the stand as a hostile witness. He answered prosecutor Binu Palal’s questions with clear reluctance, repeatedly stating he would not volunteer to testify.
McDonald’s testimony on gang violence
McDonald, who described himself as a former Mob Piru Bloods gang member, recounted the ongoing feud between the Crips and Bloods in Los Angeles. He explained that on the night of September 7, 1996, he was coordinating security at Club 662, the venue Knight intended for himself and Tupac Shakur before they were shot about a mile away. He said the shooting was part of a tit‑for‑tat exchange of violence linked to Davis’s nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, who is believed to have fired the fatal shots and later died in a separate gang shooting.
When asked whether he had ever seen a violent confrontation turn deadly, McDonald replied, “Are you serious? Don’t ask me that right here,” before noting that tension ran high whenever rival neighborhoods met. He emphasized that he has left the gang life, yet he refused to name other individuals present that night, stating, “You’re asking me questions, I can’t answer those questions.”
Additional security testimony
Following McDonald, former Death Row head of security Reggie Wright, Jr. testified while seated on an electric scooter due to lingering effects of Long Covid. Wright, who also served as a sworn police officer in Compton, clarified that his security duties differed from McDonald’s and confirmed that a second security guard had been assigned to Shakur after the release of the diss track “Hit ‘Em Up.” Wright said the guard failed to appear on the night of the shooting, leaving Knight and Shakur alone in their black BMW.
Graphic autopsy photos shown to jurors
Prosecutors then presented a series of autopsy photographs taken shortly after Shakur’s death. The images displayed medical tubes still attached to his face, a large bullet wound under his right armpit, a gunshot wound to his right thigh, and a smaller wound near his right buttock. The famous “Thug Life” tattoo across his chest was visible, as were sutures where surgeons had attempted to remove a severely damaged lung.
Shakur’s sister Sekyiwa and stepbrother Mopreme left the courtroom before the photos were shown, while family friend Tuere Burns covered her eyes and exited shortly after the first images appeared. The defendant and the jury showed no visible reaction.
Emotions spill over after testimony
After his testimony, McDonald approached defense attorney Michael Sanft in the courthouse lobby to apologize for the personal tone of his remarks. Sanft accepted the apology, noting they had never met before. McDonald later told reporters he did not want to help put Davis in prison, but he also warned that Davis had “run his damn mouth” and was now facing the consequences of his own statements.
The trial, which has drawn national attention, continues to focus on the alleged gang‑related motives behind Shakur’s murder and the role of Davis in acquiring the weapon used in the fatal shooting.
Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.
