Duane “Keffe D” Davis Testifies About the 1996 Tupac Shakur Shooting

In a Las Vegas courtroom, prosecutors introduced a 2008 audio recording in which Duane “Keffe D” Davis describes the night of the September 1996 drive-by that killed rapper Tupac Shakur. Davis says he was in the front passenger seat of a white Cadillac that pulled alongside a BMW carrying Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight. He claims he handed a loaded .40-caliber Glock to his nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, who then fired the fatal shots. Davis adds that he and the other occupants later returned to their hotel to “smoke weed and drink.”

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The incident followed a confrontation at the MGM Grand casino, where Shakur’s entourage allegedly attacked Anderson after a Mike Tyson fight. Prosecutors contend the drive-by was retaliation for that beating and linked to an earlier gang clash in Compton. The shooting left Shakur mortally wounded; he died a week later, while Knight survived.

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• Duane “Keffe D” Davis – former South Side Compton Crips leader, defendant, now 63.

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• Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson – Davis’s nephew, alleged shooter, deceased in 1998.

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• Deandre “Big Dre” Smith – passenger who reportedly refused the gun.

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• Terrence “Bubble Up” Brown – driver of the Cadillac.

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• Suge Knight – Death Row Records co-founder, passenger in the BMW.

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• Clark County Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal – prosecutor.

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• Detective Daryn Dupree – LAPD detective who first approached Davis in 2008.

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• Detective Greg Kading – LAPD detective who conducted the 2008 interview.

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• Michael Sanft – Davis’s defense attorney.

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• Detective Brent Becker – former Las Vegas homicide detective who testified about the investigation.

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Prosecutors, led by Palal, argue the recorded interview is a confession and that Davis’s 2019 memoir *Compton Street Legend* reinforces their narrative. They assert the shooting was a gang-retaliation act tied to the MGM Grand brawl.

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The defense says Davis fabricated the story to gain leverage in 2008, pointing to inconsistencies and the lack of physical evidence. Attorney Sanft argues detectives failed to substantiate Davis’s claims and that the interview was not covered by any immunity agreement.

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Detective Dupree testified that the task force had initially recruited Davis as a confidential informant in 2009, hoping to trace alleged money flows from Sean “Puffy” Combs to a drug trafficker linked to the case.

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Davis has given contradictory statements over the years. In the 2008 interview he implicates his nephew, yet earlier FBI interviews suggest neither he nor his nephew was involved, hinting at possible involvement by Knight or Combs. No forensic evidence has linked Anderson or any other defendant to the gunfire; the prosecution’s case relies heavily on Davis’s testimony and his memoir.

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The trial remains ongoing. Davis has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge with a deadly weapon. No further court dates have been announced publicly, and the jury will consider the recorded interview alongside other evidence presented by both sides.

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