Duane 'Keffe D' Davis: The man facing trial for Tupac Shakur’s murder nearly 30 years later

For 27 years, Tupac Shakur's murder remained one of hip-hop's biggest mysteries.

Then there was Duane “Keffe D” Davis.

A former South Side Compton Crips leader, self-described drug kingpin and longtime street figure, Davis spent years talking publicly about Tupac's death.

He appeared in documentaries, gave interviews and eventually published a memoir detailing his version of events.

Today, those words are at the centre of a murder trial.

So, who is Keffe D?

Born in Compton, California, Davis grew up in a large family and became involved with the Crips as a teenager.

In his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, he described rising through the South Side Compton Crips to become a “shot caller” and claimed to have run a multimillion-dollar drug operation across several states.

He also wrote that a prison stint from 1985 to 1989 hardened rather than rehabilitated him.

Davis was not a peripheral figure in the world surrounding Tupac.

He had known Death Row Records boss Marion “Suge” Knight since childhood, according to his memoir, and his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, would become central to the Tupac story.

The tragic night

On September 7, 1996, Tupac was in Las Vegas for the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon heavyweight boxing match.

After the fight, surveillance footage captured Tupac and members of his entourage attacking Anderson inside the MGM Grand.

Anderson was Davis' nephew and a member of the South Side Compton Crips.

Prosecutors say the confrontation triggered a revenge plot.

Later that night, Tupac was riding in a BMW driven by Knight when a white Cadillac pulled alongside them at a red light.

Gunfire erupted.

Tupac was struck several times. Knight was grazed by a bullet.

Tupac died six days later, on September 13, aged 25.

The Cadillac

This is where the prosecution's case gets unusual.

Davis is not accused of being the gunman.

Prosecutors allege he was the organiser - the “on-the-ground” commander who helped plan the retaliation, obtained the gun and was in the Cadillac when the shooting happened.

Under Nevada law, a person can face murder charges for facilitating or aiding the killing even if they did not personally fire the weapon.

The alleged shooter has never been prosecuted.

Anderson was killed in an unrelated gang shooting in 1998, while the other men prosecutors say were in the Cadillac are also dead.

Davis is therefore the only surviving person from the group prosecutors connect to the vehicle.

Davis starts talking

This may be the most remarkable part of the case.

Davis repeatedly discussed Tupac's killing publicly, including interviews in 2008 and 2009.

In his 2019 memoir, he again described being inside the Cadillac and his alleged role in obtaining and passing along the murder weapon.

His defence now says those stories were exaggerated or fabricated for money, publicity and book sales.

Prosecutors see them very differently: as admissions from a participant who knew what happened.

How did the case finally catch up with Davis?

In July 2023, Las Vegas police searched a Henderson home linked to Davis.

Investigators seized computers, photographs, a cellphone, .40-calibre ammunition and a copy of his memoir, among other material.

Two months later, on September 29, 2023, Davis was arrested and indicted on a murder charge.

He pleaded not guilty.

The case has taken years to reach trial, but opening statements finally began in Las Vegas on August 17, 2026.

Prosecutors say Davis orchestrated an act of revenge.

His defence says the evidence is unreliable and that his client's colourful stories should not be mistaken for proof of murder.

Nearly 30 years later

Tupac's death produced decades of theories, rumours and competing explanations.

The trial cannot answer every mystery surrounding his life or the wider East Coast-West Coast rap feud.

But it can answer one crucial question:

Was Duane “Keffe D” Davis responsible for helping orchestrate the killing of Tupac Shakur?

For the first time, that question is no longer being debated solely in documentaries, books, songs or internet forums.

It is now before a jury.