The trial of the former L.A. gang leader accused of orchestrating the shocking 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas ended its first week on Friday with major evidence shown to the jury, including secret audio of the defendant’s admission to police decades ago of his involvement and the reemergence of the theory that imprisoned mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs ordered the hit.
Duane “Keffe D” Davis is facing one count of murder with the use of a deadly weapon in a Las Vegas court for his alleged involvement in the murder of rap icon Shakur and attempted murder of Death Row Records honcho Suge Knight. Prosecutors claim Davis orchestrated the attack that killed Shakur on Sept. 7, 1996, and that his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson — who Tupac’s crew had roughed up earlier that day — was in a rented Cadillac when it pulled up alongside the record label owner’s BMW off the Vegas Strip. Gunshots were exchanged, leaving Knight injured and Shakur mortally wounded; Shakur died days later from his injuries.
Audio from a conversation between Davis and investigators — which prosecutors say amounts to a full confession from the former Compton Crips capo — was played for the jury on Thursday. In it, Davis laments the state of life as a street gangster in Los Angeles and complains about the younger generation coming up in that world, before telling LAPD detectives about the 1996 shooting in an apparent bid to avoid prosecution on unrelated drug charges that would have carried a hefty sentence. He describes renting the car that pulled up to Knight’s vehicle and says his nephew fired the fatal shot.
