Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the man accused of orchestrating the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur, will face trial after a Nevada judge rejected his bid to have the case dismissed.
Judge denies dismissal motion
Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny ruled on Monday that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence for the case to proceed. Davis’s lawyers had argued that the charges were filed too late and that key witnesses were unreliable.
Davis, 61, is the only person ever charged with murder in connection with the drive-by shooting that killed Shakur in Las Vegas. He has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder with a gang enhancement.
Case details
The shooting occurred on September 7, 1996, when Shakur was in a BMW driven by Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight. They were stopped at a red light near the Las Vegas Strip when a white Cadillac pulled up and gunfire erupted. Shakur was struck multiple times and died six days later.
Davis, who was in the Cadillac, has admitted in interviews and in his 2019 memoir that he was in the vehicle and provided the gun used in the shooting. He was arrested in September 2023 and has remained in custody since.
Legal proceedings
His trial is scheduled to begin in March 2025. If convicted, he faces a potential sentence of life in prison.
