Jury selection set to begin in Tupac Shakur murder trial in Las Vegas

Las Vegas, United States. Jury selection is due to begin on Monday in the murder trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the former street gang leader accused of masterminding the 1996 drive-by shooting death of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur.

Davis, 63, has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder by use of a deadly weapon in Clark County, Nevada.

Charges and trial

Davis is accused of leading a group of men who killed Shakur, 25, near the Las Vegas Strip on September 7, 1996. Shakur, one of rap music’s most commercially successful and influential artists, was shot four times and died in hospital six days later.

The trial, before Judge Carli Kierny at a downtown Las Vegas courthouse, is expected to last up to six weeks.

It may include testimony from Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight, who was with Shakur on the night of the shooting. Knight is serving a 28-year prison sentence for an unrelated voluntary manslaughter conviction.

Alleged motive and shooting

Authorities have described Davis as the “shot caller” in an alleged plot to avenge the beating of his nephew by Shakur and members of his entourage inside the MGM Grand casino.

The altercation allegedly followed hostility between two Los Angeles-area street gangs: the South Side Compton Crips, of which Davis described himself as a leader, and Mob Piru, which police said was associated with Knight and Death Row Records.

Shakur, Knight and others were in Las Vegas to attend the world heavyweight title fight between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon.

Prosecutors allege that Davis obtained the murder weapon and passed it to two men in the rear seat of a white Cadillac. The group allegedly drove around searching for Knight and Shakur’s vehicle after the casino brawl.

When the Cadillac caught up with their vehicle, shots were fired. Knight, who was driving, sustained a minor injury when a bullet fragment grazed his head.

Investigation

The killing became a major moment in rap music history and intensified attention on violence associated with hip-hop culture and the East Coast-West Coast rap feud during the era of “gangsta” rap.

The investigation remained cold for nearly three decades. Police said after Davis’ arrest in 2023 that he had long been considered a suspect, but investigators lacked sufficient admissible evidence to charge him until he made public statements implicating himself.

Police said the case was renewed in 2018 after Davis discussed his alleged involvement in the shooting with various media outlets.