The Trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis (Las Vegas 2026)

As of October 2026: On August 31, 2026, a Las Vegas jury found Duane “Keffe D” Davis guilty of the murder of Tupac Shakur. Sentencing is set for October 13, 2026; he faces life in prison. Davis denies the crime and has announced an appeal. The verdict is not final.

The first witness had ridden with Tupac Shakur in the ambulance in 1996. On August 17, 2026, former police officer Garry Dale told a Las Vegas jury how he had asked the badly wounded rapper who shot him. Tupac answered something like “No, we’ll take care of it” (see Last Words).

Almost 30 years after the shooting, someone was standing trial for Tupac’s murder for the first time. How the case got there is told on The Investigation; the shooting is described on The 1996 Las Vegas shooting.

The charge

Davis, 63 when the trial began, had been arrested in Henderson, outside Las Vegas, on September 29, 2023. A grand jury had indicted him for murder with use of a deadly weapon, with an enhancement alleging the crime benefited a criminal gang. He pleaded not guilty on November 2, 2023. The Clark County District Attorney’s office did not seek the death penalty.

Prosecutors did not claim Davis fired. Their case was that, as a leader of his Southside Compton Crips set, he obtained a gun after his nephew Orlando Anderson was beaten at the MGM Grand, rode in a Cadillac with three others “hunting” for Tupac and Suge Knight, and passed the weapon to the back seat. Under Nevada law, anyone who plans, orders or knowingly enables a killing can be convicted of murder. The other three men in the car are dead and were never charged.

Rulings before the trial

The trial date slipped repeatedly, and Davis changed lawyers several times. In the end he was represented by Michael Sanft, by his own account without a fee. District Judge Carli Kierny presided in Las Vegas.

Much depended on the rulings on evidence made before the trial:

The trial therefore turned on what Davis himself had said about that night.

Nine days, 24 witnesses

Jury selection began at the Regional Justice Center on August 10, 2026. By August 13 there were twelve jurors and four alternates. Opening statements followed on August 17. “Duane Davis did not pull the trigger,” prosecutor Binu Palal told the jury, but he had made sure the shooters were armed. Defense attorney Sanft countered that there was no real evidence, not even that Davis had been in Las Vegas that night.

Over nine days of testimony the prosecution called 24 witnesses and played more than eight hours of recordings, mostly of Davis himself. The defense needed under two hours for its three witnesses on August 27. Davis did not testify.

The prosecution’s evidence

No physical evidence tied Davis to the crime. The prosecution built its case from other pieces:

• Davis’ statements: the 2008 proffer session, a 2009 interview, the BET series Death Row Chronicles (2018), YouTube interviews and the book. In a 2009 clip quoted in closing arguments he says: “He gave me the gun.”
• A jail call: In a 2023 phone call from jail, Davis says he has blood on his money.
• The MGM Grand video: An MGM Resorts investigator authenticated the 1996 VHS footage but conceded that individuals are hard to identify on it.
• Crime scene and autopsy: On August 18 jurors saw shell casings from the scene and autopsy photos. Some family members left the courtroom beforehand. More on Injuries and Cause of Death.
• Details only an insider would know: among them Davis’ 2008 claim that a Chrysler Sebring followed them after the shooting, an Excalibur hotel receipt in Anderson’s name and a scrapbook of articles about Tupac and Biggie found at Davis’ home.

The witnesses

After Garry Dale, former detective Brent Becker testified that no witness ever identified the shooter. Over the following days the jury heard, among others:

• forensic pathologist Dr. Lisa Gavin, who explained the cause of death from the records because the 1996 examiner has since died;
• James McDonald, former head of security at Club 662 and a self-described Mob Piru member, a visibly reluctant witness;
• Reggie Wright Jr., a former Compton officer and Death Row’s security chief. Asked by the prosecutor whether he had anything to do with the murder, he said: “Absolutely not”;
• former FBI agent Wade Lee, on a 1998 conversation in which Davis told a completely different story;
• former LAPD detective Daryn Dupree, on the 2008 sessions. Davis said then that the gun first went to DeAndre Smith, and that Anderson then fired;
• gang expert Robert Ladd, who described Davis as a “shot caller,” the one who gives the orders in a gang;
• on August 25, Malcolm Greenidge, known as E.D.I. Mean of the Outlawz, who rode in the car behind Tupac. He saw an arm and a gun, but no faces.

Dupree also recounted Davis’ 2008 claim that Sean “Puffy” Combs had offered money to have Tupac and Suge Knight killed. That is a relayed claim, not evidence. Combs has always denied any involvement; he was never accused or charged in the Shakur case, and prosecutors at the trial made no allegation against him. After the verdict Davis himself said he had made the claim up.

A defense lawyer against his client’s stories

Sanft took an unusual approach: he attacked the credibility of his own client. Davis had embellished his story for money and attention, the book was largely fiction, and his versions contradicted each other. No video, no phone records and no hotel witness put him in Las Vegas that night. Even prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo called much of the book “garbage.” Its core, though, had never changed: Davis was in the Cadillac.

All three defense witnesses were former Las Vegas police officers. One said that on the night of the shooting he saw a light-colored Cadillac leaving Suge Knight’s property. Another had to concede that files had been lost. A former detective said he would have arrested Davis back in 2009; according to Rolling Stone, he was told at the time to hold off.

The verdict on the evening of August 31

Both sides gave closing arguments on August 31, 2026. Shortly before, prosecutors had dropped the gang enhancement. The jury began deliberating around 2 p.m. and, after just under three hours, returned its verdict at about 5:15 p.m.: guilty of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon. Davis is the first person convicted of Tupac’s murder.

Relatives were in the courtroom, among them Tupac’s sister Sekyiwa Shakur, who wept as the verdict was read. Davis stayed calm and told the judge he wanted to appeal. The next day the family said it was overjoyed and relieved, and paid tribute to Afeni Shakur. A family wrongful-death suit against Davis has been pending since April 2026.

Sentencing and appeal still to come

Judge Kierny is scheduled to pronounce sentence on October 13, 2026; until then Davis is held without bail. He faces life in prison. Sanft said he would ask for the statutory minimum.

An appeal can only be filed after sentencing. Sanft named the admission of the 2008 statements as the central issue, along with the short deliberation and pretrial publicity. He expects a decision by the Nevada Supreme Court could take up to a year. In The Hollywood Reporter on September 4, Davis insisted he was innocent: he was not in Las Vegas that night, and the book and interviews were made up. No court has tested that.

What the verdict settles and what it doesn’t

The court did not have to decide who fired the shots; in 2008 Davis named Anderson, while a grand jury witness in 2023 named DeAndre Smith. Whether anyone ordered the killing remained open. Earlier leads and suspicions are covered on Suspects at a Glance. This page will be updated after October 13, 2026.

The man convicted is one whose own statements formed the core of the prosecution’s case. Who fired the shots has still not been established in court.