The question of who killed Tupac Shakur is one that has fuelled speculation for close to 30 years.
The tragic event solidified the rapper as a pop culture legend, and it seemed destined to go down as one of the great unanswered questions in showbiz history.
But that might now all change as on August 10, the jury selection began for the trial of Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis, who was shockingly charged with murder in September 2023.
The former gang member, now 63, has pleaded not guilty and will now stand trial in Las Vegas accused of murder with a deadly weapon – if found guilty, he could face life imprisonment without parole.
The impending trial is bound to reexamine the violent rap rivalry of the East Coast and West Coast street gangs that dominated the genre and headlines in the 1990s, with many individuals and artists involved likely to take the stand.
The big question is: why now, after so many theories and speculation, have we finally got a murder trial?
Let’s dig into what we know.
When was Tupac Shakur killed?
Tupac Shakur, also known as 2Pac, was shot at the age of 25 on September 7, 1996 at the height of his fame. He died from his injuries a few days later on September 13.
On September 7, Shakur had been attending the Bruce Seldon vs Mike Tyson boxing match with ex-CEO of Death Row Records Suge Knight at the MGM Grand in Nevada.
Later that night, when they were driving as part of a convoy in a black BMW sedan, a white Cadillac pulled up alongside the car and opened fire. Shakur was struck four times.
Earlier that evening, surveillance footage had captured Shakur and members of his entourage, who were believed to be members of the Mob Piru Bloods street gang, attacking Orlando Anderson, who was allegedly a member of the South Side Compton Crips.
Anderson was questioned and denied involvement, and was later killed in a separate shooting in 1998.
For years, any leads in the case struggled to gain traction due to a lack of evidence and witnesses.
Anderson himself has long been speculated to have been the man who fired the gun, but with no evidence to go on or witness statements, the case simply stalled.
That was until Duane Davis, Anderson’s uncle, revealed new information years later that put him at the focus of one of the most infamous unsolved cases of the 20th century.
Why has Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis been charged now?
You can trace how Davis became of interest to the Los Angeles Police Department to another infamous case in the world of rap – the murder of Biggie Smalls (the Notorious BIG).
Biggie – the star of Bad Boy Records – was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997. His death has likewise remained unsolved.
Davis was spoken to as part of that investigation in the mid-2000s, having attended a party with Biggie that night.
During that questioning, he revealed that he was in the white Cadillac the night that Tupac was shot, and struck a deal with the police in exchange for that information.
Years later, Davis then went public with that information when he co-authored the 2019 memoir Compton Street Legend.
Ahead of its publication in 2018, Davis went on the BET docuseries Death Row Chronicles, where he revealed more details about being in the car but wouldn’t say who else was in the vehicle: ‘Going to keep it for the code of the streets,’ remarking that the gun ‘just came from the backseat, bro.’
In the book itself, he claimed to be in the vehicle and ‘tossed’ the gun used in the shooting into the backseat of the Cadillac.
‘I’m one of the only living eyewitnesses to Tupac’s killing,’ the intro reads, before describing the night of Shakur’s killing in detail.
He goes on to claim that he got a Glock and entered the white Cadillac with three others, looking for payback against Shakur and Knight for Anderson. ‘No words exchanged, the time for talking had passed, the s**t was about to go down!’
‘Tupac made an erratic move and began to reach down beneath his seat. Pac pulled out a strap, and that’s when the fireworks started. One of my guys from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started bustin’ back,’ the book continues.
The book came to the attention of a Las Vegas detective who was continuing to dig into the case, and was presented to a grand jury as evidence.
‘In 2023, he read aloud excerpts from the book to a grand jury, which ultimately indicted Mr Davis on one count of murder in Mr Shakur’s killing. Mr Davis, 63, has pleaded not guilty and denied any involvement,’ reported the New York Times.
On July 18, 2023, the Las Vegas police department searched Davis’ home in connection with the murder case. He was arrested on September 29.
What has been said about Davis’ case ahead of the trial?
‘Had he never decided to take money and go on BET and talk about this situation, had he decided to never write the book, he would not, probably, have ever been prosecuted for the crime,’ Marc DiGiacomo, a prosecutor on the Davis case, said during a hearing last month.
Davis and his defence team, meanwhile, have claimed that the book was co-authored and embellished or fictionalised in order to be more tantalising and make money and that its contents should not be viewed as an admission of guilt.
Davis participated in a local TV interview as well in the last week, and insists he did not write the book, and denies he was even in Nevada on the night of Tupac’s murder.
Shaun Kent told the BBC: ‘This is what makes this case so fascinating. The two biggest pieces of evidence against Keffe D came from Keffe D.
‘Keffe D has the right to take the stand and say “I made all this up. I lied to sell copies of the book. I lied to the police. I’m a liar but I did not murder Tupac.”‘
It is a difficult case with a lot of uncertainty hanging in the air, with Davis denying his involvement, as well as a case that historically has been lacking in evidence and key witnesses, many of whom are now dead.
What is certain is that many eyes of the showbiz world and fans of this fascinating period of music history will be watching.