Thirty years after the shocking murder of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur, the long-awaited trial of a man accused of orchestrating his killing has finally begun in Las Vegas.
Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, appeared in court on Monday as jury selection began in a case that has kept fans of the late rapper searching for answers for decades.
Prosecutors allege that Davis ordered the 1996 killing and supplied the gun used in the drive-by shooting that claimed Tupac’s life. If convicted, the 63-year-old faces life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
CNN reports the trial is expected to last about a month, although prosecutors may not be able to establish who actually fired the shots that killed Tupac on September 7, 1996.
Tupac, who was only 25, had been in Las Vegas to watch Mike Tyson’s boxing match at the MGM Grand when tensions escalated between members of his entourage and rival gang members.
According to the prosecution, Tupac and Death Row Records boss Marion “Suge” Knight attacked Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, Davis’ nephew and a member of the South Side Compton Crips, after the fight.
Prosecutors believe the incident triggered a revenge attack.
Later that night, a white Cadillac carrying Davis, Anderson and others reportedly pulled alongside the vehicle carrying Tupac and Knight. Gunshots were fired, leaving Tupac critically wounded.
The rapper died in hospital six days later.
Cold case revived
For years, Tupac’s murder remained one of America’s most famous unsolved cases, fuelling countless theories about who was responsible and what motivated the killing.
The case received renewed attention after the publication of Davis’ memoir in 2019.
In the book, Davis admitted that he was in the front seat of the Cadillac on the night of the shooting and said he handed a gun to people seated in the back. However, he did not identify the person who fired the fatal shots.
His account, coupled with earlier comments he had made to the media, eventually led to his arrest in September 2023.
Davis has since pleaded not guilty and maintains that he is innocent.
In a 2025 interview with ABC News, he denied killing Tupac and claimed authorities had no evidence placing him in Las Vegas on the night of the murder.
He has also sought to distance himself from his memoir, claiming that his co-author exaggerated parts of his story to boost book sales.
Tupac’s legacy lives on
Tupac’s death remains one of the most enduring mysteries in music history.
The rapper, whose real name was Tupac Amaru Shakur, became one of the defining voices of 1990s hip-hop, with songs such as California Love and All Eyez on Me cementing his place in music history.
His murder also became intertwined with the bitter East Coast-West Coast rivalry that dominated American hip-hop at the time.
The feud involved Death Row Records, led by Knight, and Bad Boy Records, founded by Sean “Diddy” Combs and associated with the late rapper The Notorious B.I.G., who himself was murdered in Los Angeles in March 1997.
Meanwhile, Tupac’s family continues to seek answers.
In May, his stepbrother, Maurice Shakur, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit, arguing that people allegedly involved in the rapper’s murder had gone three decades without being held accountable.
The trial is therefore being watched closely by Tupac’s family, hip-hop fans and observers around the world, even as questions remain about whether it will finally reveal who pulled the trigger that ended the life of one of rap’s most influential stars.
