Trial Begins for Man Accused of Orchestrating Tupac Shakur Murder

Duane Davis, also known as Keffe D, is on trial in Las Vegas for the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. Davis is charged with one count of murder with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors allege that while Davis did not fire the shots, he ordered the shooting and supplied the weapon to further criminal conduct for a gang he helped lead. The prosecution argues the attack was planned after Davis's nephew, Orlando Anderson, was involved in a fight with Shakur in Las Vegas hours before the shooting. Anderson died a decade before a 2008 police interview in which Davis allegedly detailed the crime. During that interview, Davis reportedly stated that he passed the gun to a passenger who then gave it to Anderson, who opened fire. Davis has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, Michael Sanft, argues that Davis's previous statements in interviews and a 2019 memoir are unreliable and fictionalized. The trial has also brought forward claims from the 2008 interview that Davis discussed killing Shakur and Death Row Records founder Suge Knight with Sean Combs. Center left sources frame the event as a long awaited legal reckoning for a cultural icon, while center sources focus on the specific evidentiary disputes regarding the defendant's prior confessions.