Jury deliberates in Duane Davis murder trial over 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur

Jurors began deliberations in the first-degree murder trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis, the only person ever charged in the 1996 death of rapper Tupac Shakur.

Jury weighs verdict in decades-old Tupac Shakur murder case

Jurors retired to consider their verdict on Wednesday in the first-degree murder trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis, the sole person ever charged in the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, BreakingNews.ie reports.

Deliberations followed closing arguments in which prosecutors contended that Davis' own words — drawn from a book and multiple interviews — along with a case "drenched in circumstantial evidence" proved he orchestrated the fatal drive-by shooting in Las Vegas nearly 30 years ago.

Shakur, widely regarded as one of the most influential rappers of his generation, was travelling to perform at a Las Vegas club on the night of 7 September 1996. A white Cadillac pulled alongside the vehicle carrying Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion "Suge" Knight at a red light, and shots were fired. Shakur died six days later from his wounds. Knight was also struck but survived.

Davis, 63, faces a single count of murder with a deadly weapon, with the additional allegation that the killing was carried out to promote or assist a criminal gang. He has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecution: 'The shot caller doesn't just ride along'

Chief deputy district attorney Binu Palal told jurors that Davis had acquired a firearm and "went hunting" for Shakur and Knight after members of their entourage beat up Davis' nephew earlier that same evening. Palal described the assault as a triggering act of retaliation that drove Davis and associates from the South Side Compton Crips to seek out their rivals.

Prosecutors have not alleged that Davis fired the weapon himself. Instead, they argue he is criminally liable under Nevada law because he supplied the gun and ordered the attack from inside the Cadillac.

"The shot caller doesn't just ride along," Palal told the jury.

Palal acknowledged that Davis' public accounts of the shooting shifted over the years but argued those inconsistencies reflected changing personal motivations and attempts at self-protection. One detail, he said, remained constant throughout: Davis repeatedly placed himself inside the white Cadillac from which the shots were fired.

"The core facts remain. The material facts remain," Palal said.

On premeditation, Palal pointed to evidence that the group initially searched for Shakur before spotting him on the road and executing a U-turn to pull alongside his vehicle. "It's a plan, not an impulse," he told jurors.

Palal also argued that, if jurors accept Davis' own statements, no independent corroboration is required. He additionally cited the long-standing rivalry between the South Side Compton Crips and Mob Piru, and testimony that members of Shakur's circle identified both Davis and Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson as suspects on the night of the shooting.

Defence: prosecution narrative 'fiction'

Davis' defence lawyer pushed back in closing arguments, repeating his assertion that the prosecution's case amounts to fiction and that the state had failed to substantiate Davis' own admissions with independent evidence.

Trial timeline

A panel of 16 jurors — four of whom serve as alternates — heard testimony from 24 prosecution witnesses and three called by the defence over nine days of proceedings. The trial ran shorter than initially anticipated; prosecutors had originally planned to call between 35 and 45 witnesses.

Davis first came to public attention as a suspect after making a series of statements — including in a published memoir — in which he acknowledged being inside the Cadillac and said he passed a gun to others seated in the back. Those admissions set in motion the investigation that led to his arrest and indictment.

He is the only person still alive known to have been in the vehicle at the time of the shooting, and the only individual ever charged in connection with Shakur's death.

Source: BreakingNews.ie