Tupac Shakur’s murder trial is officially underway with jury selection beginning in Las Vegas, as Duane “Keefe D” Davis stands accused of orchestrating the 1996 killing.
On Monday (Aug. 10), Keefe D appeared in court as Nevada Judge Carli Kierny questioned a pool of 75 prospective jurors about potential conflicts, medical issues and language barriers that could prevent them from serving. Pac’s family members and supporters also gathered outside the courthouse as the proceedings got underway.
63-year-old Keefe D has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang in Tupac’s death. According to a report from the AP, the former Crip leader sat quietly alongside his attorney during the proceedings.
Talking to reporters afterward, Tupac’s cousin Kendrick Lesan said, “Whoever had anything to do with it, whoever set it up, whoever had any hand in it should be locked up in prison.”
After being a cold case for nearly three decades, police arrested Keefe D in 2023, after be admitted in his tell-all book Compton Street Legend and multiple interviews to being present and providing the gun used in Tupac’s murder. The shooting was allegedly retaliation for a fight Tupac and Death Row members were involved in at the MGM Grand shortly before he and Suge were shot in a drive-by near the Las Vegas Strip. The other three men in the suspect car, including alleged shooter Orlando Anderson, have died since the shooting and were never charged.
The trial is expected to last about a month. Keefe D is facing life in prison if found guilty.
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