Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors at the start of the Duane “Keffe D” Davis trial in Las Vegas that while few have been willing to speak about the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur, Davis is the one person who has a hard time being silent.
Prosecution Highlights Duane Davis Admissions in Las Vegas Trial
Prosecutors asserted that although Duane Davis did not pull the trigger, he planned the shooting in retaliation for the beating of his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson. Palal told jurors, Remarkably, you will learn that from Duane Davis himself.
Davis, 63, has pleaded not guilty and could face life in prison if convicted of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further, or assist a criminal gang. His defense attorney dismissed the prosecution’s narrative as “fiction.”
Events Surrounding the 1996 Shooting
The trial’s opening statements detailed a confrontation at the MGM Grand hours before the Sept. 7, 1996 shooting, where Shakur’s entourage attacked Anderson. According to prosecutors, Davis spent the next two hours planning revenge, leading to the fatal drive-by shooting where Shakur was killed and Marion “Suge Knight” was in a black BMW.
Retired Las Vegas police officer Garry Dale testified that he and another officer stopped the black BMW earlier that night because it lacked a visible license plate. Dale identified the occupants as Shakur and Knight, letting them go with a warning. About 10 minutes later, officers responded to a shooting call and found EMTs pulling Shakur from the car. Dale accompanied Shakur in the ambulance and testified that when he asked Shakur who was responsible, Shakur responded, no, we’ll take care of it.
Retired Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Detective Brent Becker testified that investigators spoke with witnesses traveling behind the BMW who described a white Cadillac pulling up, opening fire, and driving away. Becker noted that while investigators gathered physical evidence and identified potential suspects in California, they lacked any witness who could positively identify the shooter.
Statements to Law Enforcement and Investigators
Prosecutors featured statements Davis made to authorities over the years. In a 2008 interview with a federal task force investigating the killing of rival rapper the Notorious B.I.G., Davis described handing a gun to the men in the back seat of the white Cadillac. Palal stated that Davis also talked to the FBI in 1998 and 1999, admitting he was in Las Vegas during the shooting, and admitted to his role in a 2009 interview with Las Vegas police.
In the courtroom audience, members of Shakur’s family, including his stepbrother Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur, listened intently as audio of Davis explaining the shooting was played. The defense countered that Davis was previously uncharged because law enforcement knew he was “full of crap,” arguing there are no facts to back up what Davis said in interviews or his book, and criticized the original investigation as biased, sloppy, and incomplete.
