Tupac Shakur Murder Trial Opens With Claims of Revenge and Gang Rivalry

The long-awaited trial over the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur has begun in Las Vegas, with prosecutors accusing former gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis of organizing the shooting as an act of revenge.

Davis, 63, is charged with murder. Prosecutors say he did not fire the fatal shot but helped plan the attack after his nephew, Orlando Anderson, was involved in a fight with Shakur hours earlier. Davis has pleaded not guilty and denies the allegations.

In opening arguments, Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal described Davis as the leader of the group that carried out the attack.

“Duane Davis did not pull the trigger,” Palal told jurors. “But he did plan the shooting in retaliation for the beating of his nephew.”

Prosecutors say Davis himself provides much of the evidence against him. In a 2019 memoir, Davis described being in the vehicle used in the shooting and said he handed a gun to Anderson, who prosecutors believe fired at Shakur.

Davis has since distanced himself from the book, saying he did not write all of it and that parts were fictionalized. His lawyers argue that the memoir should not be trusted and have criticized the investigation as flawed and incomplete.

Defense attorney Michael Sanft questioned why it took nearly 30 years for anyone to be charged.

“What facts do they have after 30 years?” Sanft asked jurors. He also argued that key witnesses have changed their stories and that some may have been motivated by money, publicity or pressure from investigators.

The prosecution's first witness was Garry Dale, a former Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer who responded to the shooting in September 1996. Dale testified that he rode with Shakur in an ambulance after the rapper was wounded.

According to Dale, Shakur refused to say who had shot him or provide details about the attack. “We’ll take care of it,” Shakur reportedly told the officer.

Shakur, one of the most influential rappers of his generation, was 25 when he was shot on September 7, 1996, after attending a Mike Tyson boxing match in Las Vegas. He died six days later.

The shooting occurred during a period of intense rivalry between East Coast and West Coast hip-hop artists, as well as conflicts involving the Bloods and Crips street gangs. Investigators have long said that fear and a lack of cooperation from witnesses made the case difficult to solve.

Prosecutors told jurors that “silence means survival” in the gang world and that witnesses were reluctant to speak with police. But they said Davis was different, pointing to statements he made about the shooting between 1998 and 2003.

According to prosecutors, Davis and three other men were traveling in a white Cadillac when they spotted Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight. The group allegedly made a U-turn and followed Shakur's vehicle.

Prosecutors say Davis, who was sitting in the passenger seat, passed a gun to Anderson, who then opened fire on Shakur's car.

Witness Ingrid Stokes also testified about the night of the shooting. She said she and friends were driving around Las Vegas when they encountered Knight and Shakur. They began following the pair toward a club.

Stokes said another vehicle appeared to be trying to get in front of them, making the group nervous. At one point, they stopped at a traffic light and pulled over to change drivers.

“We were head down, taking our seat belts off, when we heard the gunshots,” Stokes told the jury. “All hell broke loose.”

The trial is expected to last several weeks, with prosecutors and defense lawyers preparing to call witnesses, investigators and experts. The case may also feature high-profile witnesses who could shed light on the events surrounding one of the most closely watched unsolved murders in music history.

For prosecutors, the case centers on a simple claim: Davis helped organize the attack because he believed the earlier fight involving his nephew could not go unanswered.

For the defense, the central question is whether evidence gathered nearly three decades later is reliable enough to prove Davis's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.