Tupac Shakur murder trial begins three decades after rapper’s death

The long-awaited trial of former gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis has begun in Las Vegas over the 1996 killing of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur.

The trial marks a major development in one of America’s most famous unsolved celebrity murders. Shakur was shot in September 1996 while travelling in a car in Las Vegas after attending a Mike Tyson boxing match. He died six days later at the age of 25.

Davis faces murder charge

Davis, 63, is accused of orchestrating the killing and supplying the weapon used in the attack. Prosecutors allege he ordered the shooting after a confrontation involving Shakur, Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight and Davis’s nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson.

If convicted, Davis faces life imprisonment without parole.

Davis has pleaded not guilty and denies killing Shakur. His trial is expected to last about a month, although the proceedings may not establish exactly who fired the fatal shots.

Tupac and the East-West rivalry

Shakur was one of the biggest stars of 1990s hip-hop and became a central figure in the rivalry between the US music industry’s East Coast and West Coast scenes.

He was signed to Death Row Records, while rival Bad Boy Records was led by Sean “Diddy” Combs and featured rapper Christopher Wallace, better known as The Notorious B.I.G.

The rivalry became increasingly tense during the period, with Shakur and Wallace eventually becoming symbols of the divide.

Events before the shooting

Prosecutors say tensions escalated after Shakur and Knight confronted and assaulted Anderson at the MGM Grand following the Tyson fight.

Investigators believe the confrontation motivated Davis and others to seek revenge later that night.

According to prosecutors, a white Cadillac carrying Davis and several other men later pulled alongside the vehicle carrying Shakur and Knight. Shots were fired, leaving Shakur fatally wounded.

Cold case revived

For years, the investigation failed to produce an arrest, allowing the case to become one of the most closely followed cold cases in music history.

The investigation gained new momentum after Davis published a memoir in 2019. In the book, he acknowledged being inside the Cadillac that night and said he had handed a firearm to people in the back seat.

Although Davis did not identify the person who fired the shots, prosecutors later used his account as part of the case against him.

He was arrested in September 2023, nearly 27 years after Shakur’s death.

Davis changes his account

Davis has since rejected the account contained in his memoir and insists he was not in Las Vegas when Shakur was killed.

He has also claimed that he never personally wrote the memoir and that his co-author exaggerated aspects of his story to sell books.

His defence team has attempted to prevent prosecutors from using the memoir and previous statements he made to police as evidence, but those efforts have not succeeded.

Questions remain

The trial is unlikely to answer every question surrounding Shakur’s death. Everyone else believed to have been inside the Cadillac has since died, leaving Davis as the only person from the vehicle facing prosecution.

The case has also generated renewed scrutiny following claims about other people who may have been involved in the killing.

Shakur’s family continues to seek accountability, with his stepbrother filing a wrongful-death lawsuit earlier this year alleging that others involved in the rapper’s death have never been held responsible.

The criminal trial now offers the strongest opportunity in three decades to establish what happened on the night Shakur was killed and whether Davis played the central role prosecutors allege.