Duane “Keefe D” Davis will not take the stand in his own defense in the Tupac Shakur murder trial, leaving jurors to weigh decades of his recorded statements without hearing directly from the man prosecutors accuse of helping orchestrate the rapper’s 1996 killing.
Davis’ attorneys rested their case Thursday after calling just three witnesses, all former Las Vegas police officers. The decision clears the way for closing arguments Monday, followed by jury deliberations in a murder case that has remained unsolved for nearly 30 years.
Whether Davis would testify became one of the biggest remaining questions after prosecutors rested Wednesday. The decision carried particular significance because much of the state’s case has been built around Davis’ own words. Jurors heard previous interviews and statements in which Davis discussed the events surrounding Shakur’s Sept. 7, 1996 shooting near the Las Vegas Strip.
Defense attorney Michael Sanft has argued that Davis exaggerated or fabricated portions of those accounts for notoriety and financial gain. By keeping Davis off the witness stand, however, the defense avoided exposing him to what almost certainly would have been an extensive cross-examination about those statements.
Instead, Sanft used the defense’s brief case to highlight what he views as weaknesses and unanswered questions in the decades-old investigation.
Two former Las Vegas officers testified about working near Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight’s Las Vegas residence on the night Shakur was shot. Their testimony included recollections of vehicles moving through the area, including a cream or white Cadillac—the same type of vehicle investigators have long connected to the shooting.
The defense also called retired homicide detective Dan Long, who investigated Shakur’s murder and later interviewed Davis.
That testimony produced a notable moment for prosecutors. Under cross-examination, Long said Davis identified the same four men investigators had previously believed occupied the Cadillac involved in the shooting. Long also testified that following a 2009 interview with Davis, he returned to Las Vegas believing authorities had enough evidence to pursue a murder warrant. Prosecutors at the time instructed him not to proceed while the case remained under review.
The state presented roughly two dozen witnesses before resting its case Wednesday.
Prosecutors contend Shakur’s killing was retaliation for the infamous MGM Grand casino fight earlier that night. Shakur, Knight and members of their entourage were captured on surveillance video attacking Orlando Anderson, Davis’ nephew and an alleged South Side Compton Crip, following the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon fight.
Hours later, a white Cadillac pulled alongside Knight’s BMW near Flamingo Road and Koval Lane. Gunfire erupted from the vehicle, striking Shakur four times. The 25-year-old Hip Hop icon died six days later on Sept. 13, 1996. Knight was wounded but survived.
Prosecutors allege Davis helped organize the retaliation and provided the firearm used in the shooting. Under Nevada law, prosecutors do not have to prove Davis personally pulled the trigger to convict him of murder if they establish that he aided or participated in the alleged murder plot.
Davis has pleaded not guilty and maintains that he did not participate in Shakur’s murder.
Now, after nine days of testimony, the evidence is in.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday morning, after which the case will finally be placed in the hands of the jury.
Nearly three decades after Tupac Shakur was gunned down on a Las Vegas street, Keefe D’s fate and potentially the first murder conviction ever obtained in connection with one of Hip Hop’s most infamous unsolved killings, could soon be decided.