Jury deliberates murder charge against Duane Davis in 1996 Tupac Shakur shooting

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

Jury weighs murder verdict in decades-old Tupac Shakur case

Jurors in Las Vegas began deliberating the fate of Duane "Keffe D" Davis on Thursday after prosecutors and the defence delivered closing arguments in the first-degree murder trial linked to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, BreakingNews.ie reports.

Davis, 63, faces a single count of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He has pleaded not guilty and is the only person ever charged in Shakur's death.

Prosecutor: "A plan, not an impulse"

Chief deputy district attorney Binu Palal told jurors that the case was "drenched in circumstantial evidence" but that Davis' own words were sufficient to convict him. Palal argued Davis acquired a gun and "went hunting" for Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion "Suge" Knight after members of Knight and Shakur's entourage beat up Davis' nephew earlier that evening.

Prosecutors have not claimed Davis pulled the trigger. Instead, they argue he was criminally responsible for providing the gun and ordering the attack. "The shot caller doesn't just ride along," Palal told the jury.

Palal acknowledged that Davis' accounts of the killing had shifted over the years, but argued those changes reflected his evolving motivations and attempts at self-protection. One detail, he said, had 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.

The prosecution also argued the attack was premeditated, pointing to evidence that the group initially searched for Shakur before spotting him on the road and executing a U-turn to approach his vehicle. "It's a plan, not an impulse," Palal said.

Palal pointed further to the gang rivalry between the South Side Compton Crips and Mob Piru, the earlier altercation involving Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, and testimony from members of Shakur's circle who identified both Anderson and Davis as suspects on the night of the shooting.

Defence: prosecution narrative is fiction

Davis' defence lawyer reiterated that the prosecution's account amounted to fiction and that the state had failed to support Davis' own statements with independent corroborating evidence. Under Nevada law, a person who assists another in committing murder can be convicted of that crime.

Palal countered that if jurors believe Davis' statements, those statements do not require independent corroboration to sustain a conviction.

Nine days of testimony

A panel of 16 jurors — four of whom will serve as alternates — heard from 24 prosecution witnesses and three defence witnesses over nine days of testimony. The trial had been expected to run longer; prosecutors originally planned to call between 35 and 45 witnesses. The prosecution built much of its case on statements Davis made in a book and in media interviews, in which he described being inside the Cadillac and handing a gun to others seated in the back.

The night of the shooting

Shakur, widely regarded as one of the most influential rappers of his generation, was in Las Vegas on 7 September 1996 for the Mike Tyson vs Bruce Seldon boxing bout at the MGM Grand. He was travelling with Knight when a white Cadillac drew alongside their vehicle at a red light and shots were fired. Shakur was struck multiple times and died six days later from his wounds. Knight was also hit but survived.

Davis described the attack as retaliation for the beating of his nephew by members of Knight and Shakur's entourage earlier that night.

For years no charges were filed in connection with Shakur's death. Davis became the focus of the investigation after he began making public statements placing himself in the vehicle from which the shots were fired. He remains the only living person who, by his own account, was inside the Cadillac that night.

Source: BreakingNews.ie