The murder trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis over the killing of Tupac Shakur is heading to closing arguments after the defense rested Thursday following testimony from three former Las Vegas police officers.
Jurors are expected to return Monday for closing arguments before beginning deliberations in the only prosecution brought in connection with the hip-hop icon’s death. The evidentiary phase of the trial concluded after nine days of testimony. Davis, 63, did not testify in his own defense.
Shakur was riding in a BMW on September 7, 1996, when a white Cadillac pulled alongside the car at a red light near the Las Vegas Strip and opened fire. Shakur was struck multiple times and died six days later. The BMW’s driver, Marion “Suge” Knight, survived the shooting.
Years later, Davis would say he procured the gun and his nephew, who has since died, fired the shots. Prosecutors say Davis orchestrated the killing, and he faces life in prison if convicted of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He has pleaded not guilty.
Defense attorney Michael Sanft has argued that Davis fabricated or embellished his accounts of the killing for money and notoriety and that investigators failed to independently corroborate his claims.
Retired Las Vegas homicide detective Dan Long, the defense’s final witness, testified that he tried unsuccessfully to verify several details Davis provided during a 2009 police interview.
Davis told Long that his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, had gone to a Las Vegas hospital after being beaten by Shakur and others in a casino brawl hours before the rapper was fatally shot. Long said he was unable to find hospital records confirming Anderson was treated there.
Long also tried unsuccessfully to locate records for a white Cadillac that Davis said had been rented before the shooting.
Asked by a juror whether he had been able to verify that Davis was actually in the Cadillac the night Shakur was killed, Long said Davis himself told him he was in the car and that the shooting came from it.
On follow-up questioning by Sanft, Long acknowledged he had no independent facts outside of what Davis told him confirming he was in the Cadillac.
Prosecutors countered that Davis’ account matched information already developed by investigators. On cross-examination, Long testified that Davis identified the same four men investigators already believed were in the Cadillac when Shakur was shot.
Long also said he returned to Las Vegas after interviewing Davis in 2009 intending to seek an arrest warrant for murder because he believed there was probable cause, but prosecutors at the time told him to stand down while they reviewed the matter.
The defense also called two former Las Vegas police officers who were assigned to keep the peace at Knight's home on the night of the shooting. They testified about vehicles entering and leaving the gated residence, including a cream- or white-colored Cadillac.
The case remained unsolved for decades before Davis’ public interviews and 2019 memoir helped revive scrutiny of the killing.
Prosecutors rested Wednesday after calling 24 witnesses. They contend Davis orchestrated Shakur’s killing in retaliation for the casino fight involving Anderson, and their case relied heavily on Davis’ own accounts over the years, including interviews, his memoir and recorded jail calls.
Closing arguments are scheduled to begin Monday morning.
