Tupac murder trial begins for gang leader Duane Davis

The trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis, the only person ever charged in the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, began on Monday in Las Vegas, Nevada. Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, is charged with one count of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He has pleaded not guilty. The trial is expected to last four weeks and could result in a life sentence if convicted.

Shakur was fatally shot on September 7, 1996, while riding in a BMW driven by Death Row Records co-founder Marion "Suge" Knight. The shooting occurred after a brawl at the MGM Grand involving Shakur, Knight, and Davis's nephew, Orlando Anderson. Prosecutors allege Davis orchestrated the shooting in retaliation for the beating of Anderson. Davis's own admissions, including his 2019 memoir "Compton Street Legend" and interviews, form the core of the prosecution's case. In the memoir, Davis described being in the Cadillac from which shots were fired, but he did not name the gunman. Authorities suspect Anderson or another passenger, Deandre Smith, pulled the trigger; both are now dead.

Knight, who was wounded in the shooting, is on the witness list but has said he wants no part in the trial. Sean "Diddy" Combs, who Davis claimed in his memoir asked him to handle problems involving Knight and Shakur, will not testify. The defense argues Davis's accounts were exaggerated or fictionalized for personal gain. The trial is a culmination of decades of investigation and public fascination with one of the most infamous unsolved murders in entertainment history.