Nearly three decades after Tupac Shakur was gunned down in Las Vegas, the only man ever charged in connection with the hip-hop icon’s killing is headed to trial.
Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, is scheduled to face a jury beginning Monday on a murder charge tied to the 1996 drive-by shooting that killed Shakur, one of the most influential figures in rap history.
Davis has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors are not alleging that he pulled the trigger, but they say he helped organize the attack and supplied the gun used in the shooting.
Shakur was shot on Sept. 7, 1996, while riding in a BMW driven by Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight near the Las Vegas Strip. He died six days later at age 25.
Earlier that night, Shakur, Knight and others were involved in a fight at the MGM Grand with Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, Davis’ nephew and a member of the South Side Compton Crips.
According to prosecutors, Davis, Anderson, Deandrae “Freaky” Smith and Terry “Bubble Up” Brown were later inside a white Cadillac that pulled up beside Shakur’s car before gunfire erupted.
Of the four men alleged to have been in that Cadillac, Davis is the only one still alive.
Investigators had long believed Anderson may have been the shooter, though evidence introduced in the case has also pointed to the possibility that Smith fired the fatal shots.
No murder weapon was recovered.
According to The Associated Press, prosecutors hope to prove that Davis called the shots in and provided the gun used in the crime. Gunfire came from the Cadillac that Davis was in, and he is one of the only people there that night who is still alive.
Davis has acknowledged being in the Cadillac and discussed the killing in interviews and in his 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend.” Prosecutors say those statements help establish his role in the attack.
His attorneys, meanwhile, have argued that some of Davis’ public statements were exaggerated and have challenged whether statements he made during a 2008 police interview could be used against him.
A Nevada judge ruled that Davis’ police interview, as well as portions of his memoir, will be allowed during the trial.
The trial is expected to last about four weeks. In November, Davis’ attorneys unsuccessfully sought to dismiss the charges.
“Think of it this way: Shakur’s murder was essentially the entertainment world’s JFK assassination — endlessly dissected, mythologized, monetized — so it’s not hard to see why someone in Davis’s position might falsely place himself at the center of it all for personal gain,” his attorneys said in a petition to the Nevada Supreme Court that was denied.
Shakur’s legendary rap career was highlighted by more than 75 million records worldwide with hits including “California Love,” “Changes” and “Dear Mama.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
