Revisit Tupac Shakur's murder case as trial begins
What's the story
The long-awaited murder trial of rap icon Tupac Shakur started in Las Vegas on Monday. The trial comes nearly three years after Duane Keffe D Davis was arrested and charged in 2023, and almost three decades since Shakur's untimely death. Davis is accused of orchestrating the rapper's murder and faces a count of murder with a deadly weapon intended to promote or assist a criminal gang.
Background
Shakur was attacked in a drive-by shooting
Shakur was shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996.
He was riding shotgun while former Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight drove.
Shakur was hospitalized and died six days later.
The incident has been widely speculated as the result of the East Coast/West Coast Hip-Hop feud of the '90s.
Trial dynamics
Knight said, 'This trial has nothing to do with me'
Knight, currently imprisoned for manslaughter in an unrelated hit-and-run case, recently told ABC News he wouldn't cooperate with authorities.
He said, "This trial has nothing to do with me, and if somebody brings me there, it's gonna hurt whoever brings me there."
Meanwhile, Davis has been implicated in Shakur's murder for a long time.
He had also spoken about his involvement in his 2019 memoir Compton Street Legend, where he claimed to have provided the gun used in the shooting.
Legal proceedings
Davis's memoir has been a key piece of evidence
Davis's memoir has been a key piece of evidence for the prosecution, but he has pleaded not guilty and distanced himself from the book's contents.
His legal team argued last month, "We're putting way too much credence and value and weight on statements that are made for entertainment purposes only."
Meanwhile, if convicted, Davis could face life in prison.
Notably, he is the only person arrested in connection with Shakur's murder since his death in 1996.