Tupac Shakur’s murder trial is underway in Las Vegas, 30 years after the event.
Shakur died on 13 September 1996 at the age of 25, six days after being shot in a drive-by shooting. One of four men in a white Cadillac fired 13 shots into the rap legend’s vehicle.
On the opening day of trial, prosecutors painted the accused, former gang leader Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis, as someone seeking revenge and masterminding the drive-by shooting that killed the rapper.
They alleged that although Davis did not fire the gun that killed Shakur, he allegedly orchestrated the killing.
“Let’s be clear, Duane Davis did not pull the trigger. But he did plan the shooting in retaliation for the beating of his nephew,” chief deputy district attorney Binu Palal told the jury. “Remarkably, you will learn that from Duane Davis himself.”
In 2019, Davis published his memoir titled Compton Street Legend, in which he described himself as “one of the only living eyewitnesses to Tupac’s killing”, writing that he felt “a deep sense of remorse for what happened”.
Davis has since distanced himself from the memoir, saying he didn’t write all of it and parts were fictionalised to sell more copies. He has denied the allegations against him, and pleaded not guilty.
Davis’ attorneys called the prosecution’s narrative “fiction”, dubbing the case a product of a flawed, decades-long investigation.
