A former gang member facing charges in connection with the 1996 murder of hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur saw his initial court appearance take place on Wednesday. Duane “Keffe D” Davis, aged 60, who has long been suspected of involvement and recently began making self-incriminating statements in public, appeared before Clark County district judge Tierra Jones. During the hearing, Davis’s attorney requested a two-week continuance, which Judge Jones granted. His next court appearance is now scheduled for October 19.
Currently in custody without bond, Davis was indicted by a Clark County grand jury last week and subsequently arrested in Las Vegas in connection with Shakur’s unsolved drive-by shooting, a pivotal moment in the history of rap music. Davis faces one count of murder with a deadly weapon for his alleged role in leading a group of individuals in the fatal shooting of Shakur near the Las Vegas strip.
According to authorities, Davis orchestrated a revenge plot following the beating of his nephew, Orlando Anderson, by Shakur and members of Shakur’s entourage inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena on the evening of September 7, 1996, just hours before the fatal shooting. Last week, police held a press conference where they presented hotel security footage depicting several men assaulting a person identified as Anderson near a bank of elevators before security personnel intervened. This incident, authorities claim, ultimately led to Shakur’s retaliatory shooting death.
After acquiring a firearm from an undisclosed associate, Davis, accompanied by Anderson and two other individuals, Terrence Brown and Deandre Smith, set out in a white Cadillac to locate the black BMW carrying Shakur, according to police. When the Cadillac caught up to Shakur’s vehicle, gunfire erupted from the Cadillac into the BMW’s passenger side. Shakur, struck four times, succumbed to his injuries six days later at the age of 25.
Authorities have not disclosed the identity of the individual who fired the weapon at Shakur. Regrettably, the other three occupants of the Cadillac with Davis have all since passed away.
[6:54 pm, 04/10/2023] Paul Biz: Romaine
