In an intriguing case that feels like it’s been lifted straight out of a gritty crime-thriller novel, the defense attorney for Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis, accused orchestrator of the murder of hip-hop icon, Tupac Shakur, has stated unequivocally that his client has been weaving a web of falsehoods around his alleged involvement in the infamous 1996 drive-by slaying that stunned the music industry.
In a tête-à-tête with reporters stationed outside Las Vegas’ Regional Justice Center on a relatively uneventful Tuesday, Attorney Carl Arnold broke silence on the incongruities in Davis’ varying accounts of that ill-fated night of the shooting. Davis’ checkered past as a prominent figure in Los Angeles’ notorious gang scene has been brought into high relief as he finds himself charged with masterminding the murder plot against Shakur, a crime under Nevada law that carries the same weight as the act of pulling the trigger.
Arnold confirmed that the numerous narratives that Davis provided in a span of over a decade through media interviews, police records, and even his self-published memoir, ‘Compton Street Legend: Notorious Keffe D’s Street-Level Accounts of Tupac and Biggie Murders, Death Row Origins, Suge Knight, Puffy Combs, and Crooked Cops,’ are little more than fanciful tales, devoid of backing physical evidence.
Among the chimeras spun by Davis was his claim of being the chauffeur to his nephew, Orlando Anderson, during the fatal shooting of Tupac Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder, Suge Knight, their car being ambushed by a white Cadillac at the junction of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane. 25-year-old Shakur succumbed to his injuries six days post the attack, his passing marking one of the darkest chapters in hip-hop history.
Adding a layer of intrigue to the case, Arnold voiced doubts over the veracity of Davis’ purported presence in Las Vegas at the time of the incident, pointing to the conspicuous absence of his client in surveillance footage from the incident’s vicinity at MGM Grand. Seen clearly on the footage are Shakur, Knight, and Trevon Lane of the Bloods gang, engaging in a skirmish with Anderson, affiliated with the rival gang, the Crips, presumably an act of retribution.
Davis, currently under the ominous shadow of a looming trial scheduled for November 4, is not slated to provide his testimony, although Arnold revealed a strategic intend to bring Knight to the stand. Notably, Knight had previously voiced a refusal to testify, during a discourse with TMZ the previous October.
Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis, now aged 60, found himself ensnared in law enforcement’s dragnet on September 29, 2023, on counts of being implicated in Shakur’s murder by a grand jury. Despite his bail being set to a staggering sum of $750,000 at the start of this year, Davis has been confined within the formidable walls of Clark County Detention Center since his arrest time.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson struck a positive note on Wednesday, indicating the prosecution’s firm belief in the robustness of their evidence against Davis, who had pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges the previous November. Should a court verdict end in Davis’ conviction, it is expected that this former kingpin of gangland LA would see out his twilight years behind bars.
