"30 Years Later": Opening Statements Begin in Las Vegas for Duane "Keffe D" Davis Murder Trial in Tupac Shakur Killing

LAS VEGAS, NV — Nearly three decades after hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur was fatally wounded in a drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip, opening statements commenced on Monday, August 17, 2026, in the long-awaited murder trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis.

Davis, 63, appeared before Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny at the Regional Justice Center, facing one count of murder with a deadly weapon with a gang-enhancement allegation.

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|          KEFFE D / TUPAC SHAKUR TRIAL DOSSIER          |
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|  - Defendant: Duane "Keffe D" Davis (Age 63)           |
|  - Venue: Clark County District Court (RJC Las Vegas)  |
|  - Presiding Judge: Judge Carli Kierny                 |
|  - Lead Prosecutor: Chief Deputy DA Binu Palal         |
|  - Core Charge: Murder with a Deadly Weapon (Gang Enh.)|
|  - Incident Date: September 7, 1996 (Flamingo & Koval) |
|  - Defense Argument: Statements Were "Fact vs. Fiction"|
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The State’s Case: “The On-Scene Commander”

Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal opened the trial by describing Davis as the mastermind who orchestrated the September 7, 1996, shooting following an earlier altercation at the MGM Grand.

Prosecutors asserted that Davis obtained a .40-caliber firearm, sat in the front passenger seat of a white Cadillac, and handed the weapon into the backseat before pulling alongside Marion “Suge” Knight’s black BMW at the intersection of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane.

Jurors listened to recorded audio excerpts from federal and police interviews conducted between 1998 and 2009, in which Davis repeatedly described the moments leading up to the gunfire.

“He held onto a visceral hatred for Shakur for decades that drove him to speak,” Palal told the jury. “And now, 30 years later, we are going to ask you to finally hold Duane Davis accountable.”

Members of Shakur’s family, including his stepbrother Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur, were present in the courtroom audience as the recordings were played.

The Defense: “Fact vs. Fiction”

Davis’s defense counsel presented their opening counter-argument, asserting that the state’s case relies almost entirely on self-serving statements Davis made to law enforcement and media outlets to profit from entertainment deals and book sales rather than physical evidence tying him to the gun.

Defense attorneys urged jurors to distinguish between street bravado and verifiable forensic proof, noting that the three other occupants of the Cadillac have since died.

The trial is expected to continue over the next four weeks with testimony from former investigators, forensic specialists, and witnesses present in Las Vegas on the night of the shooting.

Source: Clark County District Court Trial Records, Associated Press Court Bureau, Eighth Judicial District Court Pool Filings.