Nearly 30 years after Tupac Shakur‘s fatal drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, the only man charged in the case is finally heading to trial. Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, will appear in court Monday. He faces one count of murder with use of a deadly weapon in furtherance of a criminal gang. He insists prosecutors arrested the wrong person. Duane Davis at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas. (Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images) Prosecutors contend Davis orchestrated the September 1996 ambush that claimed Shakur’s life. Even though they do not allege he fired the fatal shots. Davis has remained behind bars since his 2023 arrest and has pleaded not guilty.  ‘He Believed He Had a Level of Immunity’: Social Media Uncovers Multiple Interviews Revealing Keefe D Self-Snitching About Tupac’s Murder For years, Shakur’s killing stood as one of hip-hop’s biggest unsolved mysteries, fueling documentaries, books and countless conspiracy theories. Investigators repeatedly identified possible suspects but never brought charges. That changed only after Davis spent years publicly discussing the shooting in interviews and his candid 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend.” Prosecutors now say those statements helped revive the long-dormant investigation and ultimately led to his arrest.  The case traces back to Sept. 7, 1996. Shakur left the MGM Grand after attending Mike Tyson’s heavyweight title fight with Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight. They stopped at a red light near the Las Vegas Strip. Then a white Cadillac pulled alongside their black BMW and someone inside opened fire. Shakur was struck multiple times and died six days later at age 25. Knight survived with relatively minor injuries.  Nearly three decades after rapper Tupac Shakur was killed in a Las Vegas drive-by shooting, former gang leader Duane 'Keffe D' Davis is set to face trial for masterminding the 1996 murder pic.twitter.com/vOS36ZbhwI— Reuters (@Reuters) August 10, 2026 Authorities say the shooting was not random. Prosecutors argue it was the deadly result of a feud that stretched far beyond music. They say the rivalry between Death Row Records and Bad Boy Records reflected a broader conflict between the Mob Piru Bloods and the South Side Compton Crips. Hours before the shooting, investigators say Shakur and members of his entourage attacked Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, inside the MGM Grand. Prosecutors argue Davis organized the retaliatory shooting later that night.  The state’s case relies heavily on Davis’ own words. In his memoir and media interviews, Davis placed himself inside the Cadillac prosecutors say carried the shooters. He wrote that he sat in the front passenger seat. He also claimed he passed a handgun to someone in the back before the shooting. The book recounts that after spotting Shakur’s BMW, one of the passengers opened fire. Davis also wrote that Anderson’s beating by Shakur’s group had crossed a line. “We couldn’t let no record company studio gangsters do us like that,” the memoir states.  Prosecutors say those admissions became the turning point in a case that had sat largely dormant for years, and if Davis himself hadn’t written explicitly about the killing, it’s likely no one would have been charged. They contend Davis served as the “shot caller,” supplying the weapon and directing the retaliation, even if another passenger ultimately pulled the trigger.  Davis, however, now insists those public statements should not be taken as fact. NO GUN, NO CAR, NO SHOOTER—SO WHY IS KEFFE D HEADED TO TRIAL FOR TUPAC’S MURDER? pic.twitter.com/CD8PIFK6hs— Docket Diva (@_LaJanee_) August 9, 2026 During a recent jailhouse interview with Las Vegas television station 8 News Now, Davis flatly denied being present when the shooting occurred. “I wasn’t in Nevada, period,” Davis said.  He also claimed he exaggerated or fabricated portions of his story for financial reasons after battling serious health problems. Davis said he wrote the book and gave interviews to earn money for his family, not confess. He also rejected the idea of accepting a plea agreement. “I’m 63. I had a cancer battle, and I got three stents to my heart,” Davis said. He cited his health while explaining why he would not plead guilty in exchange for a shorter prison sentence. “I’m not going to take a deal like that.” His attorney echoed that defense. He argued prosecutors have no physical evidence linking Davis to the murder. Instead, he said they rely on decades-old statements, disputed witnesses, and a memoir co-authored by someone else. Defense attorneys also tried to block the memoir and recordings of Davis’ past interviews. They argued parts of the book were dramatized and some law enforcement interviews were meant to remain confidential. Davis’ 2023 arrest followed years of publicly discussing Tupac Shakur’s killing in books, documentaries, and interviews. Those public statements led many observers to argue he had implicated himself long before prosecutors charged him. Davis repeatedly said he was inside the white Cadillac during the shooting. He claimed he was one of four men in the car and recounted the attack in interviews, including BET’s “Death Row Chronicles.” During one interview, Davis even remarked that he was the only surviving person who could fully explain what happened that night. Social media users later resurfaced many of those appearances after his arrest, leading some to accuse him of “self-snitching.” Former LAPD detective Greg Kading previously interviewed Davis under a proffer agreement. Kading said the deal protected only certain self-incriminating statements from that interview and did not grant blanket immunity. The trial opens another painful chapter for Shakur’s family. The case has remained unsolved for nearly 30 years. Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur said reliving the events will be difficult, but he hopes the trial will finally bring answers. “I hope that the trial is fair, and we find out the truth,” Mopreme Shakur said. He added that no verdict can undo the family’s loss. “That would be justice for me. But we all know that is unattainable.”   Mopreme has also urged investigators to continue examining allegations involving other high-profile figures connected to the East Coast-West Coast rap rivalry. Davis’ memoir claims Sean “Diddy” Combs wanted both Knight and Shakur killed, an allegation Combs has repeatedly denied.  Davis is the only person ever charged, but authorities say he was not the gunman. Investigators believe four men were inside the Cadillac that pulled alongside Shakur’s BMW. Davis said he sat in the front passenger seat while his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, sat behind him. He also wrote that he passed a handgun into the back seat before the shooting but never identified the gunman. For years, Anderson was widely viewed by law enforcement as the suspected shooter. The theory stemmed largely from the casino fight earlier that evening, when surveillance cameras captured Shakur, Knight and others assaulting Anderson inside the MGM Grand. Prosecutors believe that confrontation became the catalyst for the deadly retaliation just hours later. In his memoir, Davis appeared to support that narrative, writing, “Them jumping on my nephew gave us the ultimate green light to do something.”  Anderson consistently denied involvement before he was killed in an unrelated Compton shooting in 1998, and he was never charged in Shakur’s death.  However, grand jury testimony has introduced another possible shooter. Former Davis associate Denvonta Lee testified that the gun was ultimately taken by Deandre “Big Dre” Smith, who allegedly opened fire because Anderson did not have a clear angle from his seat. Smith died of natural causes in 2004, leaving investigators without the opportunity to question him publicly about those allegations.  The prosecution’s case also faces significant evidentiary challenges. Neither the Cadillac allegedly used in the shooting nor the murder weapon has ever been recovered. Retired Las Vegas Detective Clifford Mogg told the grand jury investigators were never able to identify who rented the vehicle or locate the firearm believed to have been used in the attack. “We were never able to identify the person who rented the car, where it was rented from, and then when it comes to the gun, we have never recovered as of this date, the weapon that was used in the murder,” Mogg testified.  Even with those unanswered questions, prosecutors believe Davis’ own statements, combined with witness testimony and years of investigative work, provide enough evidence to secure a conviction. Shakur’s death remains one of the defining tragedies in hip-hop history. The rapper sold more than 75 million records worldwide, recorded chart-topping hits including “California Love,” “Changes” and “Dear Mama,” earned six Grammy nominations and was posthumously inducted into the Rock Roll Hall of Fame. Jury selection is expected to begin Monday, with testimony projected to last about a month. Regardless of the outcome, the trial marks the first time anyone has faced a jury over one of music’s most enduring unsolved killings: a case that has haunted Shakur’s family, fascinated fans and fueled speculation for nearly three decades.  ‘Hope We Find Out the Truth’: Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis Claims His Tupac Confessions Were Fiction as Murder Trial Finally Begins ...read more read less