The Timeline of Tupac Shakur’s Death, as His Alleged Killer Finally Stands Trial
Almost 30 years after Tupac Shakur was gunned down on the Las Vegas Strip, the man prosecutors say orchestrated his killing is finally standing trial. Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, is set to appear in a Las Vegas courtroom starting this week, facing a single count of murder with a deadly weapon for allegedly organizing the drive-by shooting that ended the rapper’s life. Davis has pleaded not guilty and has been jailed since his arrest in late 2023. The long-delayed trial marks the first time anyone has faced prosecution in one of hip-hop’s most notorious and talked-about murders. But do you know how we got here?
How did Tupac Shakur die?
On the night of September 7, 1996, Tupac Shakur was riding in the passenger seat of a BMW driven by Death Row Records executive Suge Knight. The associates had just left the MGM Grand following a Mike Tyson fight. As the car came to a stop at a red light, a white Cadillac pulled alongside it. Someone inside the Cadillac opened fire and sped off. Shakur was struck multiple times as he sat in the passenger seat. He was rushed to a hospital, where he died six days later. He was just 25.
While an investigation was opened immediately, it yielded few details of the actual shooting, but it did uncover what might have happened in the hours preceding it. Hours before the shooting, Shakur and members of his entourage had been involved in a fight with Orlando Anderson, a gang member, inside the casino. Prosecutors have long suspected that the altercation set the killing in motion, though other theories persisted.
The case has been open ever since
For years, Shakur’s murder went unsolved. The mysterious nature of the brazen shooting led to endless speculation and conspiracy theories about who was responsible and why. Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has been bandied about as someone involved, though there is no evidence to corroborate that. Hip Hop fans have made accusations about several other rappers, suggesting the killing was a music rivalry turned violent. That theory never sat right with investigators.
Detectives on the case suspected Orlando Anderson was involved from early on, but he was never charged. He was killed in an unrelated shooting in 1998. The case largely stalled until Davis, Anderson’s uncle and a self-described former gang leader, began speaking more openly about the shooting in interviews and in his own 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend.” In those accounts, Davis admitted providing the gun used in the shooting to Anderson, whom he described as the actual gunman, while stopping short of directly confessing to ordering the killing himself. The book is expected to factor heavily into the case against him.
The arrest and years of delays
While Duane Davis avoided being openly named in the case for years, his own book pinned him to the attack and led to his arrest. He was arrested on a first-degree murder charge on September 29, 2023, following a grand jury indictment. The indictment came just over 27 years after the shooting. Prosecutors have described him as the “on-ground, on-site commander” who ordered Shakur’s death, according to CBS News. Prosecutors argue that the killing was retaliation for the fight in the casino earlier in the day.
Now, Davis is set to stand trial. Originally scheduled for June 2024, the trial was pushed multiple times, most notably after Davis’s defense team argued in early 2025 that new evidence and witness interviews could show Davis wasn’t even in Las Vegas at the time of the shooting. His team will argue that someone else may have orchestrated the killing.
The trial is finally moving forward, with Davis expected in court on August 10. Prosecutors are expected to base the case against Davis largely on his own public statements about his role in the shooting. His defense continues to maintain his innocence and dispute the state’s account of events, though it’s unclear how they’ll contend with the contents of the memoir.
