Tupac murder accused told police in 2008 his nephew fired fatal shots
Duane "Keffe D" Davis, the man accused of orchestrating rapper Tupac Shakur's 1996 murder, is on trial in Las Vegas charged with murder using a deadly weapon. Jurors on Thursday heard a 2008 police interview recording in which Davis, then speaking to detectives investigating the death of another rapper, described handing his gun to a passenger who declined it before his nephew took the weapon and opened fire on Shakur's car. The case matters because it reopens one of hip-hop's most enduring cold cases after three decades, with prosecutors arguing Davis, 63, directed the shooting and supplied the gun even though he did not personally fire it; he has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors allege Davis planned the drive-by shooting on 7 September 1996 after his nephew, Orlando Anderson, was involved in a fight with Shakur hours earlier, believing the attack "could not go unanswered". Central to the case are Davis's 2008 police account and a later 2019 memoir in which he claimed he was in the vehicle and had "tossed" the murder weapon into the backseat, though he has since said parts of the book were fictionalised. In the recorded interview, Davis also said he had discussed killing Shakur and Death Row Records founder Suge Knight with Sean "Diddy" Combs during Bad Boy Records tour stops, though Combs's representatives have not commented. Anderson, who always denied involvement, died a decade before the interview was recorded.
- Keffe D Davis on trial in Las Vegas for Tupac's 1996 murder
- 2008 police recording says nephew Orlando Anderson fired fatal shots
- Davis says he discussed killing Tupac and Suge Knight with Diddy
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Tupac Shakur was a hugely influential US rapper who was shot in a drive-by attack in Las Vegas in 1996 and died six days later. The killing followed a fight earlier that day involving Shakur and Orlando Anderson, a member of a rival group; Anderson later denied taking part in the shooting and was killed in 1998.
Duane “Keffe D” Davis was in the car from which the shots were fired, according to his own later accounts. Prosecutors say he helped plan the attack and supplied the gun, while Davis has pleaded not guilty to murder.
The case concerns who was responsible for the killing and what role Davis played. It has drawn renewed attention to a decades-old investigation and to the rivalries surrounding Shakur’s record label, Death Row Records, and the wider hip-hop scene.