Tupac Shakur (Photo: Getty Images) | Duane “Keffe D” Davis (Photo: Getty Images)
Next month marks the 30th anniversary of rapper Tupac Shakur‘s death. After three decades of conspiracy theories, cold leads, and rumors, the murder trial for Duane “Keffe D” Davis—the suspect accused of organizing the Las Vegas strip shooting—officially kicks off on Aug. 10. Davis detailed his involvement in a 2019 tell-all memoir, which led investigators to reopen the cold case and bring the late rap legend’s unsolved murder back into the spotlight.
Ahead of the trial, here’s what led to this moment.
Sept. 7, 1996: Inside the MGM Grand Lobby
While Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon fought for the WBA Heavyweight title in Las Vegas, Tupac Shakur and his entourage had their own confrontation in the MGM Grand lobby. Minutes after Tyson knocked Seldon out in the first round, Shakur, Marion “Suge” Knight, and others fought with a group that included Duane “Keffe D” Davis and his nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson—a man with whom Shakur had previously clashed.
Surveillance video showed Shakur and Knight kicking and punching Anderson near a bank of elevators, police said.
Flamingo Road and Las Vegas Boulevard
Around 11:15 p.m., the black BMW carrying Shakur as a passenger stopped at a red light at Flamingo Road and Koval Lane, just a block from the Strip. Malcolm Greenidge, a lifelong friend of Shakur who was trailing in a separate car, told the grand jury they were headed to Club 662 when a white Cadillac quietly pulled up alongside them.
According to witnesses, Davis, Orlando, Deandre “Freaky” Smith, and Terry “Bubble Up” Brown were inside the Cadillac. Of the four men, only Davis remains alive today.
The Fatal Shooting
According to Davis’s account, his crew spotted Shakur leaning out of the passenger window, waving at fans. Recognizing the rapper, Davis ordered driver Terrence to make a U-turn because, as Davis put it, they “found who we were seeking.”
Greenidge told the grand jury that “an arm came out of the back window and began shooting,” firing more than a dozen rounds. Shakur was hit four times—twice in the chest. Knight, who was driving, was grazed in the head by a bullet fragment.
Immediate Aftermath
Knight had a flat tire and couldn’t drive away. Paramedics pulled them over at Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon Avenue. Shakur was rushed to University Medical Center and placed on life support, listed in critical condition. He underwent emergency surgery to remove his right lung and remained on a respirator in intensive care.
Six Days Later
On Sept. 13, Shakur succumbed to internal bleeding and respiratory failure in the ICU. He was pronounced dead at 4:03 p.m. He was 25.
Decades of Cold Leads and Rumors
In the years following September 1996, the search stalled due to uncooperative witnesses, police missteps, and dead-end leads. Neither the Cadillac nor the firearm used in the shooting was ever recovered. The case remained open for three decades, and as key figures passed away, law enforcement faced persistent scrutiny for failing to secure a conviction in one of the most notorious unsolved murders in the United States.
Keffe D’s Tell-All and The Reopened Case
The case gained traction after self-incriminating accounts reignited the investigation. In 2019, Davis co-wrote “Compton Street Legend” with Yusuf Jah, a memoir in which he admitted he was in the Cadillac and provided the weapon used to shoot Shakur.
“Them jumping on my nephew gave us the ultimate green light to do something,” Davis wrote in his book.
Marc DiGiacomo, chief deputy district attorney in Clark County, noted that Davis likely would never have been prosecuted had he not written the memoir. Davis’s defense attorney, Michael Sanft, argued the book was fictionalized to make money, and it remained unclear which parts Davis actually authored.
The Missing Piece
The book’s marketing promised “the missing piece of the puzzle that hip-hop fans have been waiting for,” detailing street codes and what happens when the worlds of streets, entertainment, and corrupt law enforcement collide. The Amazon description emphasized Davis and Knight as the “only living eyewitnesses to the deadly confrontation on the Las Vegas Strip between the occupants of our two vehicles.”
The War Behind the Music
Authorities branded Davis as a 1990s “shot caller” for the South Side Compton Crips, positioning him as a key player in the bitter East Coast versus West Coast feud between Suge Knight’s Death Row Records and Sean “Diddy” Combs’s Bad Boy Records. The South Side Compton Crips allegedly protected Bad Boy, while Mob Piru was affiliated with Death Row.
One of My Guys Grabbed the Glock
Though Davis told ABC in a 2025 interview that he is “innocent,” passages in his book suggest revenge was the motive. “We couldn’t let no record company studio gangsters do us like that,” Davis writes. According to the memoir, Davis saw Shakur reach for a weapon, prompting his crew to act. “One of my guys from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started bustin’ back.”
The Raid and Indictment
More than 25 years after Shakur’s death, SWAT officers executed a late-night search warrant on Davis’s Henderson, Nevada home. Police seized hard drives, cellphones, computers, a Vibe magazine featuring Shakur, two tubs of photographs, and several .40-caliber bullets on July 13, 2023.
A Clark County grand jury indicted Davis with one count of open murder with the use of a deadly weapon, with a gang enhancement charge—marking the first formal criminal prosecution in nearly three decades.
The Trial
Davis’s jury trial begins Aug. 10, nearly three years after his 2023 arrest. Now 63, Davis has pleaded not guilty and remains imprisoned. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
What’s Next
Due to anticipated public interest and limited courtroom space, the Las Vegas court will implement a daily lottery system to distribute available seats after jury selection—expected to take several days. This high-profile case, which has captured decades of speculation and grief from hip-hop culture, finally moves toward closure.
★TR★
