As the Tupac Shakur murder trial continued in Las Vegas on Tuesday, proceedings took an unexpected turn when a former gang member testified combatively under oath. Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis is accused of orchestrating the 1996 killing along the Las Vegas Strip, facing scrutiny from prosecutors and defense attorneys alike.
Monday’s opening statements gave way to intense witness testimony as the trial moved into its second day. Thomas Kern, a crime scene analyst who started with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department when Shakur was murdered, took the stand to introduce autopsy photographs. Dr. Lisa Gavin, a medical examiner in Clark County, reviewed the images and testified that Shakur died of gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen, ruling the manner of death a homicide. Under cross-examination, Gavin noted that original autopsy photos were taken using Polaroid cameras. Court resumes with the rest of the Monday’s recording of an interview Davis had with Fred Miller following the murder of Biggie Smalls.
Michael Ingram and Kenneth Rios Discuss MGM Grand and Orlando Anderson
The prosecution also focused on the movements of individuals on the night of the shooting at the MGM Grand. Michael Ingram, an investigator hired by MGM in 2010, authenticated historical surveillance footage originally recorded on VHS tapes. Ingram explained that the casino routinely reused such tapes during that era. Former LVMPD Sergeant Kenneth Rios testified about making contact with Orlando Anderson—identified as the man in the jersey—using a California ID outside the boxing match hours before the shooting. Rios stated that police thought he was the victim when making contact with him, and that the man told him he was jumped by people he didn’t know. Rios added that Anderson declined medical attention and didn’t want to press charges, meaning no police report was taken given that Anderson did not want to press charges. Following the shooting of Tupac, Rios began to recall the fight and make notes of the incident from memory.
Following Ingram and Rios, William Heidmeyer, a former security officer with the Maxim Hotel and Casino—which is now the Westin Las Vegas—approached the stand. Later, Dean O’Kelly, a former LVMPD officer and also a cold case homicide investigator who was a detective with the gang unit during the time of Tupac’s murder, testified. During the testimony, evidence was taken out and presented to O’Kelly, who said this is the closest he has been to them because he put cones over them when he was at the scene in 1996, and suggested the weapon was a Glock 40.
A Combative Witness Takes the Stand
McDonald Testifies Under Questioning From Michael Sanft
The courtroom dynamic shifted sharply when McDonald, a former member of rival Blood street gang offshoot Mob Piru and enforcer at Suge Knight’s Death Row Records label, which represented Shakur, testified about the atmosphere surrounding the fatal shooting. McDonald testified that he was not with Shakur when the shooting took place. Under repeated questioning from Davis’s defence attorney, Michael Sanft, about whether he witnessed the attack and whether he knew who was there at the time, McDonald raised his voice and arms, expressing clear reluctance to implicate the defendant. Under oath, McDonald said he didn’t want to answer many of these questions because it wouldn't be good
for the defendant.
McDonald, former gang member and enforcer
McDonald looked over at Davis at one point, saying, talk to your lawyer man, this dude is tripping
. I don't want to send him to prison, even though we don't like each other. I don't want to send you to prison,
he said looking at Davis, who sat in a suit, stone faced. You're asking me questions that can hurt him,
McDonald told Sanft, flabbergasted.
Gang Retaliation and Decades-Old Admissions
When pressed, McDonald explained that even though he was not there to witness the shooting, those who were there that night within Shakur’s entourage had quickly communicated who was responsible. McDonald corroborated the tense climate of the era, describing the fatal incident as part of an active gang war where individuals on both sides were actively hunted. It was a gang war. People were getting hurt. People were being sought,
he said. Orlando (Anderson), him and certain other people were being sought because people wanted to kill them.
He said people wanted revenge against those responsible for Shakur’s death, noting, They were the main subjects of a gang war – they were in the middle,
and adding that he, too, was part of this gang war.
Autopsy and Investigation Details Examined by Jury
As witness testimony continued, jurors submitted direct questions regarding the forensic evidence and initial police response. The one recovered at surgery." Later, jurors also questioned investigators regarding the MGM security log maps and asked Sergeant Rios whether it is customary after an incident like that not to follow the people who did the assault, and if it is common for everyone to stay with who you thought was the victim. Rios stated it was his responsibility to stay with the victim if a report was needed to be filled or if medical attention was needed, and noted that other officers had already been radioed.
