Tupac murder suspect wanted revenge, prosecutors say at trial kickoff

Duane 'Keffe D' Davis went on trial for murder in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur, with prosecutors arguing Davis supplied the gun used in the shooting out of anger over a beating his nephew received from Shakur's associates. Prosecutor Binu Palal told jurors Davis handed the weapon to his nephew, Orlando Anderson, who fired into Shakur's vehicle after the group encountered him in Las Vegas; Anderson denied involvement before his own death in a 1998 shooting.

Davis's defense pointed to his history of giving inconsistent accounts over nearly three decades — first denying any role to the FBI, later admitting involvement in a secretly recorded 2008 conversation, and eventually publishing a book about the shooting. Defense attorney Michael Sanft argued Davis is known to embellish and that prosecutors have no evidence placing him at the scene or linking him to the murder weapon beyond his own claims.

A former Las Vegas police officer testified he rode with Shakur to the hospital and tried unsuccessfully to get him to name his attackers. The trial is expected to run into September.

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