Trial date for Tupac murder suspect Keffe D is set for June 3, 2024 – but ex-gangster will NOT face death penalty if convicted of 1996 crime

• Tupac’s ‘killer’ will be put on trial for the rapper’s murder on June 3, 2024
• Duane Keith ‘Keffe D’ Davis, 60, was arrested in September for the Las Vegas drive-by shooting that killed Tupac in 1996
• Prosecutors won’t be seeking the death penalty for the self-proclaimed gang member  

Tupac Shakur’s alleged killer ‘Keffe D’ Davis is scheduled in court on June 3 for the 1996 murder of the American rapper, but charges will not result in the death penalty.

Duane Keith ‘Keffe D’ Davis, 60, is a former Southern California street gang leader who was arrested in September for orchestrating the Las Vegas drive-by shooting that killed Tupac Shakur 27 years ago.

Davis is the only one from inside the car responsible for firing the fatal shot at Shakur that is still alive – he is also the only person to be charged with a crime related to the murder. He now faces a trial set for June 3, 2024.

The self-described ‘gang member’ entered a not-guilty plea in a Las Vegas courtroom on November 2 after delays and uncertainty about his legal representation.

Prosecutors said they aren’t planning on seeking the death penalty for Davis’ alleged crime.  

Duane Keith ‘Keffe D’ Davis, 60, is a former Southern California street gang leader who was arrested in September for orchestrating the Las Vegas drive-by shooting that killed Tupac Shakur 27 years ago

The self-described ‘gang member’ entered a not-guilty plea in a Las Vegas courtroom on November 2 after delays and uncertainty about his legal representation

Davis is the only one from inside the car responsible for firing the fatal shot at Shakur that is still alive – he is also the only person to be charged with a crime related to the murder. He now faces a trial set for June 3, 2024

Tupac Shakur was born in New York City to two Black Panther activists. He sold 75 million records worldwide and is considered one of the most influential rappers of all time

When Davis appeared in court three weeks ago he was represented by defense attorney Ross Goodman – but the lawyer said that he and Davis couldn’t reach terms of an agreement. 

Goodman had said prosecutors lack witnesses and key evidence, including a gun or vehicle, for the killing committed 27 years ago.

Before entering his plea, Davis stood in dark-blue jail garb and answered a short series of questions, telling the judge that he attended ‘a year in college,’ was not under the influence of any drugs, medication or alcohol, and that he understood he has been charged with murder.

Davis, 60, is originally from Compton, California. He was arrested Sept. 29 outside a home in suburban Henderson where Las Vegas police served a search warrant July 17, drawing renewed attention to one of hip-hop music´s most enduring mysteries.

Davis remains jailed without bail, did not testify before the grand jury that indicted him, and declined from jail to speak with The Associated Press.

The indictment alleges Davis obtained and provided a gun to someone in the back seat of a Cadillac before the car-to-car gunfire that mortally wounded Shakur and wounded rap music mogul Marion ‘Suge’ Knight at an intersection just off the Las Vegas Strip.

Knight, now 58, is in prison in California, serving a 28-year sentence for the death of a Compton businessman in 2015. He has not responded to messages through his attorneys seeking comment about Davis´ arrest.

Friends of the hip hop star demanded to know why it took so long to bring charges when Davis has repeatedly boasted of his involvement in podcasts, interviews, and even a memoir

Tupac Shakur was born in New York City to two Black Panther activists. He sold 75 million records worldwide and is considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. 

Prosecutors claim that Shakur’s murder was sparked by competition between East Coast members of a Bloods gang sect and West Coast groups of a Crips sect, including Davis, for dominance in a musical genre dubbed ‘gangsta rap.’

The grand jury was told the September 7, 1996 shooting in Las Vegas was retaliation for a brawl hours earlier at a Las Vegas Strip casino involving Shakur and Davis´ nephew, Orlando ‘Baby Lane’ Anderson.

Prosecutors told a grand jury that Davis implicated himself in the killing in multiple interviews and a 2019 tell-all memoir that described his life leading a Crips sect in Compton.

Shocking bodycam footage from September 29 showed Davis brazenly boasting about being part of the ‘biggest case’ in Las Vegas history during his arrest.

Footage of his arrest showed the moment Davis brags that he’s a ‘pro’ when being bundled into the back of the police car – as well as the fact he’s allegedly implicated in the ‘biggest case in Las Vegas history.’ 

He told officers, who emerged from an unmarked vehicle to arrest him: ‘I don’t give a s***’ and ‘I ain’t worried.’ 

One of the officers tells Davis to ‘have a seat right in here’ inside the police car, before the man made his way inside and tells them: ‘I am pro dude. I got it.’

The arresting officer, clearly stunned at Davis’ confidence, said: ‘He said I am pro. Alright.’

During the arrest video, the murder suspect also joked about wanting to drink some water and being thirsty as police checked if he had weapons on him and cuffed his wrists.

Prosecutors said they aren’t planning on seeking the death penalty for Davis’ alleged crime

Prosecutors told a grand jury that Davis implicated himself in the killing in multiple interviews and a 2019 tell-all memoir that described his life leading a Crips sect in Compton

Police took 27 years to arrest Duane ‘Keefe D’ Davis for the murder of Tupac Shakur because he kept building their case for them, a retired LAPD cop claimed. 

Friends of the hip hop star demanded to know why it took so long to bring charges when Davis has repeatedly boasted of his involvement in podcasts, interviews, and even a memoir.

Mopreme Shakur, Tupac’s step-brother, called the arrest of Davis 27 years after the death of the rapper ‘bittersweet’.

‘We have been through decades of pain,’ he told CNN, ‘They have known about this guy, who been running his mouth, for years.

‘So why now? For us, this is not over. We want to know why, and if there were any accomplices.’

‘Perhaps what they were doing was saying, ‘He’s already tied the noose, now, let’s let him hang himself’,’ said Greg Kading, who previously investigated Shakur’s killing.

‘You didn’t just say it twice, you didn’t just say it five times,’ and so now you’ve got this compilation of so many confessions,’ he added.

‘The perception is that it’s going to be hard for him at this point to say, ‘Hey, I was just kind of boasting, making stuff up’.’

Footage of his arrest showed the moment Davis brags that he’s a ‘pro’ when being bundled into the back of the police car – as well as the fact he’s allegedly implicated in the ‘biggest case in Las Vegas history’

Davis claimed he told police as long ago as 2009 that he was in the Cadillac from which the bullets were fired

Mopreme Shakur, Tupac’s step-brother, called the arrest of Davis 27 years after the death of the rapper ‘bittersweet’ 

Davis claimed he told police as long ago as 2009 that he was in the Cadillac from which the bullets were fired.

Davis is thought to have made a deal with federal investigators in California in 2009 that allowed him to speak openly on a number of topics – including what he knew about the hip-hop star’s death in Las Vegas in 1996.

Experts warned that prosecutors may not be able to use the murder suspect’s statements against him. If they attempted to, a legal dispute may break out in court, they warned.

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