Trial of former gang leader in Tupac Shakur murder case rescheduled for November

A former Los Angeles-area gang leader accused of murdering hip-hop music legend Tupac Shakur in 1996 in Las Vegas has a trial date moved out from June to November. His new counsel said on Tuesday that he anticipates being able to post bond and be freed from prison to house arrest shortly.

When Duane “Keffe D” Davis was being held in jail, he informed Clark County District Court Carli Kierny that those who were ready to assist him in posting $750,000 bond did not want to show up for a “source hearing” to prove the money was received lawfully.

“I’ve got family that is hesitant to come in here and help me out on the bail because of the media and the circus that’s going on,” Davis said.
The 60-year-old Davis is a native of Compton, California. The sole surviving member of the group that was in the automobile when bullets were fired in September 1996 at a traffic light close to the Las Vegas Strip, murdering Tupac Shakur and injuring rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight in another car, is this man. After an unconnected deadly shooting in the Los Angeles region in 2015, Knight, now 58, was sentenced to 28 years in jail in a California prison.
Kierny confirmed that prosecutors are still giving the defense access to evidence in Davis’ case and that Davis’ attorney, Carl Arnold, was fresh to the case. She moved the June 3 trial date until November 4.

Reporters were informed by Arnold outside the courthouse that Davis may be able to complete posting the $75,000, or 10% of the total bail, this week in order to get a bail bond and be released to electronic monitoring home arrest. According to him, a source hearing can happen in less than 30 days.
Twenty-seven years after the Shakur assassination, in September, Davis was taken into custody outside his suburban Henderson home. He has been detained at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas since entering a not guilty plea to first-degree murder in November. He may be imprisoned for the remainder of his life if found guilty.

The prosecution claims to have solid proof that Davis admitted his guilt in police and media interviews conducted since 2008 as well as in his candid 2019 biography about his past as a street gang leader in Compton.

Arnold told reporters on Tuesday that Davis authored the book to earn money, much as other people, including a police investigator, had done. Arnold’s remarks were similar to those made by Davis’ prior counsel. He said that neither the murder weapon nor the vehicle from which the rounds were fired belong to the police or the prosecution. Davis’ presence in Las Vegas on the night Shakur was shot, he added, would need to be shown by the state.
When Davis informed Los Angeles police about the rival rapper Christopher Wallace and Tupac Shakur’s deadly killings six months later, he was reportedly guaranteed protection from prosecution in 2010. Wallace went by Biggie Smalls, also known as The Notorious B.I.G.

In addition to having five No. 1 albums and six Grammy Award nominations, Shakur was elected into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017. Last year, he was honored with a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.