BBC News
· collected 2026-08-18 · by Sareen Habeshian, Shaimaa Khalil and Regan Morris
- Published
In the opening day of Tupac Shakur's murder trial, prosecutors painted former gang leader Duane "Keffe D" Davis as someone seeking revenge before masterminding the drive-by shooting that killed the iconic rapper.
asserted
that → publish → rapper
Witnesses took a Las Vegas jury back in time three decades ago to the night Shakur was shot, when gangs had a hold over '90s hip-hop and distrust in police led to a lack of cooperation - and one of the most famous cold cases of the last century.
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distrust → take → century
Davis, 63, is charged with Shakur's murder.
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Davis → charge → murder
Prosecutors allege that although Davis did not fire the gun that killed the influential rapper, he allegedly orchestrated the killing.
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he → allege → killing
Davis has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty.
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Davis → deny → allegations
In opening arguments, the prosecution portrayed Davis as the ringleader of the group responsible for the shooting - and point to a memoir he co-authored where he wrote in detail about the night of the shooting.
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he → open → shooting
"Let's be clear, Duane Davis did not pull the trigger.
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Davis → pull → trigger
But he did plan the shooting in retaliation of the beating of his nephew," Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told the jury.
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Palal → plan → jury
"Remarkably, you will learn that from Duane Davis himself."
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you → learn → Davis
Davis' attorneys called the narrative "fiction", dubbing the case a product of a flawed-decades-long investigation.
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attorneys → call → investigation
Davis has distanced himself from the memoir, saying he didn't write all of it and parts were fictionalised to sell more copies.
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parts → distance → copies
Davis, wearing a navy suit and blue tie, sat with his defence team as they questioned why no one had been arrested for nearly three decades and asked why "no one corroborates any of this".
"What facts do they have after 30 years?" his attorney Michael Sanft questioned.
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attorney → wear → years
The prosecution's first witness was Garry Dale, who was working for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at the time of the shooting in September 1996.
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who → work → September
The officer detailed riding in an ambulance with Shakur after he'd been shot.
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he → detail → Shakur
He said the rapper refused to offer any information on what happened and who had shot him.
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who → say → him
"We'll take care of it," Shakur said, according to the officer's testimony.
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Shakur → take → testimony
At the core of the case is East Coast vs West Coast rap rivalries and turf wars between the Bloods and the Crips street gangs that were immortalised in rap lyrics and news reports in the 1990s.
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that → immortalise → 1990s
Police have long said said a lack of cooperation in the case led to dead ends in their investigation.
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lack → say → investigation
Members of the rapper's entourage, though, have accused authorities of initially treating them like suspects and failing to follow important leads.
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Members → accuse → leads
Throughout the day on Monday, prosecutors painted that picture for the jury, explaining that there were no formal criminal charges in the shooting because in the world of guns and gangs "silence means survival".
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silence → paint → survival
But "one person" who had a hard time staying silent was the defendant, prosecutors said, noting that Davis gave a "number" of statements on the case between 1998 and 2003.
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Davis → have → 1998
Prosecutors allege Davis planned the shooting after his nephew Orlando Anderson was involved in a fight with Shakur in Las Vegas hours earlier.
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nephew → allege → Vegas
They argued Davis believed the attack on his nephew could not "go unanswered".
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attack → argue → nephew
The iconic rapper was just 25 years old when he was gunned down after a Mike Tyson boxing match on 7 September 1996.
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he → gun → September
He died six days after the shooting.
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He → die → shooting
Prosecutors contend that Davis - a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips street gang - was the "on-ground, on-site commander" who "ordered the death" of Shakur.
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who → contend → Shakur
The murder case had largely gone cold until public statements made by Davis himself, who published a memoir in 2019.
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who → go → 2019
In it, and in various interviews, Davis has claimed he was a passenger in the vehicle that fired into Shakur's car that night.
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that → claim → car
He said in the book that he gave the gun used in the murder to his nephew, Anderson, who shot the rapper.
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who → say → rapper
His attorneys have argued the book is fiction and shouldn't be used as evidence in a criminal trial relating to a case from three decades ago, but a judge ruled it could be used in court.
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it → argue → court
His defence team has pointed to missing police reports, disputed evidence and "biased, sloppy and incomplete" detective work.
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team → point → reports
They alleged prosecutors relied on "unreliable people with criminal records, financial motivations and inconsistent statements".
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prosecutors → allege → records
The defence also argued witnesses changed their stories over time and were influenced by money, media attention or information supplied by investigators.
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witnesses → argue → investigators
Opening statements began on Monday after a week of jury selection.
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statements → open → selection
Over the next few weeks, witnesses, experts, investigators and possibly even some celebrity witnesses are slated to give evidence about what occurred that night.
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what → slat → evidence
Prosecutors allege that Davis acquired a gun and organised two vehicles to travel to a Las Vegas club, one of them a white Cadillac, which carried three other men, including his nephew, Anderson.
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which → allege → nephew
Palal told the jury they the men decided to "get some booze and go back to the Vegas strip and party", prosecutors said.
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prosecutors → tell → strip
On their journey, however, they saw a caravan of cars - and spotted Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion "Suge" Knight in one of the vehicles.
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they → see → vehicles
Palal alleges that's when Davis and the others in the Cadillac decided to make a U-turn and confront Shakur and Knight.
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Davis → allege → Shakur
Davis, who was in the passenger seat, he said, passed a gun to Anderson, who shot into Shakur's car.
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who → say → car
…and 6 more, not listed.
