Will the new trial for Tupac Shakur's murder finally bring justice?

For three decades, rapper Tupac Shakur’s murder at age 25 has been an unsolved mystery, attracting countless conspiracy theories from armchair experts and professionals alike - and even a Netflix special.

Now, there might finally be justice for the man beloved by 90s music-lovers around the world.

Jury selection began on Monday in the case against former gang boss Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, who is facing one charge of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang in Shakur's killing. 

The rapper lost his life when he was shot on  September 7, 1996, after he was shot four times with a Glock .22 pistol while his car was stopped at a red light in Nevada. 

The bullets came from a white Cadillac that had pulled up alongside Shakur’s vehicle — which was being driven by his label boss, Marion “Suge” Knight.

Prosecutors say Davis, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, Deandrae “Freaky” Smith and Terry “Bubble Up” Brown were in the Cadillac. Davis is the only one alive today.

Authorities long suspected Anderson was the gunman, although evidence presented in the case has also raised the possibility that Smith fired the shots.

Shakur was shot in the chest, arm and thigh. One of the bullets grazed Knight's head. 

The rapper died from his injuries six days later. The murder weapon was never located.

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Facts in the murder trial of Tupac Shakur

After the shooting, authorities arrested Anderson, a member of the South Side Crips gang, but he was released without charge. 

Anderson was initially suspected because Shakur and his entourage had attacked him in the lobby of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas earlier that night. The attack happened because Shakur claimed Anderson had attempted to rob him. 

Two days later, the gang Shakur was associated with, the South Side Crips, and the opposing gang, Mob Pirus Bloods, engaged in an all-out gang war. Three people died.

Shakur’s mother, Afeni, filed a wrongful death suit against Anderson, which was settled before Anderson perished in another gang shooting in 1998.

But Davis was always an unofficial suspect, too - and he capitalised on the notoriety.

 

 

 

 

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In 2019, Davis released his memoir, “Compton Street Legend.” The introduction claims in part, “I’m one of the only living eyewitnesses to Tupac’s killing."

In the book, Davis claims that he took a Glock and entered the white Cadillac with three others, looking for payback against Shakur and Knight for the attack on Anderson. 

“No words exchanged, the time for talking had passed, the shit was about to go down!” he wrote.

The book added: “Tupac made an erratic move and began to reach down beneath his seat. Pac pulled out a strap, and that’s when the fireworks started. One of my guys from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started bustin’ back.”

However, Michael Sanft, a lawyer for Davis, says that his client embellished many of the stories in his book.

"We’re putting way too much credence and value and weight on statements that are made for entertainment purposes only.”

Opening arguments in the trail being on August 17.