Tupac Shakur murder trial opens as 'Keffe D' accused of ordering 1996 killing

crime & law legal proceedings

The trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis, a former gang leader, is now underway in Las Vegas. Davis, indicted in 2023, is the only man ever charged in connection with the 1996 drive-by shooting that killed rapper Tupac Shakur. Prosecutors describe the murder as a deadly act of revenge, bringing a trial nearly 30 years after the event to a case once regarded as one of the nation's most prominent cold cases.

During the proceedings, an officer testified that after Shakur was shot multiple times, the artist refused to cooperate with police and told the officer, "we'll take care of it." The court also heard testimony from Thomas Kern, a crime scene analyst for the Las Vegas police department in 1996, who authenticated evidence from the autopsy.

On the second day of testimony, prosecutors presented graphic autopsy photos to the jury. Some members of Shakur's family left the courtroom before the images were displayed, while others remained to face the facts of the incident. Shakur's cousin stated that the autopsy photos made him feel very angry.

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