Tupac Shakur Murder Trial Opens Nearly 30 Years After Rapper’s Death

The long-awaited trial over the 1996 murder of hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur has opened in Las Vegas, nearly three decades after the rapper was killed in a drive-by shooting.

Prosecutors have portrayed former gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis as the mastermind behind the attack, alleging that he organised the shooting in retaliation after his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, was beaten by Shakur and members of his entourage earlier that night.

Davis, 63, has pleaded not guilty. He is accused of orchestrating the killing but is not alleged to have fired the gun himself.

Prosecutors allege revenge motive

In opening arguments, Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors that Davis planned the shooting after the confrontation involving Anderson.

“Duane Davis did not pull the trigger. But he did plan the shooting,” Palal said, according to reports from the trial.

Prosecutors allege Davis acted as the group's leader and provided the weapon used in the attack.

The prosecution's case centres partly on statements Davis made publicly over the years, including accounts contained in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend. Investigators revived the long-running case after Davis spoke publicly about his alleged involvement.

Davis has since sought to distance himself from portions of the memoir, arguing that he did not write all of it and that some passages were fictionalised.

Defence calls prosecution case “fiction”

Davis's lawyers have challenged the reliability of the prosecution's evidence, arguing that the case is built on an investigation that remained unresolved for almost 30 years.

Defence attorney Michael Sanft questioned why no one had been prosecuted for so long and challenged prosecutors to explain what evidence they now have that was unavailable during the original investigation.

The defence has also raised concerns about missing police reports, inconsistent witness accounts and what it described as flawed investigative work.

Davis's lawyers argue that some witnesses have criminal records or potential financial and media incentives and that their accounts changed over time.

A judge has nevertheless ruled that Davis's 2019 memoir can be presented as evidence in the trial.

First witnesses recall night of shooting

The prosecution's first witnesses included former Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer Garry Dale, who recalled travelling with Shakur in an ambulance after the shooting.

Dale testified that Shakur did not provide information about who had shot him or what had happened.

The court was also told about the atmosphere surrounding the shooting, which took place during a period of intense rivalry between East Coast and West Coast hip-hop circles and amid tensions involving the Bloods and Crips street gangs.

Police have previously said a lack of cooperation from people connected to the case contributed to the investigation reaching dead ends.

Prosecutors argued that fear and a culture of silence within the gang environment prevented witnesses from coming forward.

Witness describes moment gunfire erupted

Civilian witness Ingrid Stokes also testified about the moments surrounding the shooting.

Stokes said she and friends were driving through Las Vegas when they encountered Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight.

She said the group was travelling towards a club when another vehicle began attempting to manoeuvre around them.

After the vehicles stopped, Stokes said she and her friends were changing drivers when they suddenly heard gunshots.

“We were head down, taking our seat belts off, when we heard the gunshots,” she testified, according to the trial account.

“All hell broke loose.”

What happened to Tupac?

Shakur was shot on September 7, 1996, after attending a Mike Tyson boxing match in Las Vegas.

He was travelling in a BMW driven by Knight when a white Cadillac pulled alongside the vehicle and gunfire erupted.

Shakur was struck multiple times and died six days later at the age of 25. Knight survived the attack.

The killing became one of the most enduring mysteries in music history and remained officially unsolved for decades.

Davis was arrested and charged in 2023, becoming the first person formally prosecuted in connection with Shakur's death.

Davis's own words at centre of case

A key element of the prosecution's case is Davis's history of discussing the shooting.

In his memoir and interviews, Davis described being inside the vehicle involved in the attack and gave accounts of how the gun was allegedly passed to Anderson.

Prosecutors argue that these statements amount to admissions of his role in organising the killing.

The defence, however, maintains that Davis exaggerated or fabricated aspects of his story and that statements made years after the shooting should not be treated as reliable proof of murder.

The competing interpretations of Davis's memoir are expected to become a central issue as the trial progresses.

Nearly three decades of unanswered questions

The trial is revisiting not only Shakur's killing but also the wider gang and music-industry rivalries that surrounded the case in the 1990s.

Many of the people alleged to have been directly involved are now dead, while memories of the night have inevitably faded.

Prosecutors are expected to call investigators, experts and civilian witnesses as they attempt to establish Davis's alleged role in the shooting.

The defence will seek to persuade jurors that the prosecution has failed to produce sufficiently reliable evidence linking Davis to the murder.

The trial is expected to last several weeks and could finally determine whether Davis was responsible for orchestrating one of the most notorious killings in hip-hop history.