Nearly three decades after the drive-by shooting that killed hip-hop icon, Tupac Shakur, the man accused of orchestrating his murder finally faced a jury as his long-delayed trial got underway in Las Vegas. 

Jury selection began on Monday, August 10, 2026, for Duane “Keefe D” Davis, the 63-year-old former gang leader once at the helm of the South Side Compton Crips, who stands charged with one count of murder with a deadly weapon tied to a gang motive.

Prosecutors allege that Davis ordered the September 7, 1996, drive-by shooting that fatally wounded the 25-year-old rapper near the Las Vegas Strip, in what has long been considered hip-hop’s most notorious unsolved case. Shakur died six days after the shooting, and the crime went unpunished for nearly 30 years until Davis’s arrest in September 2023.

He has pleaded not guilty, and his trial before Judge Carli Kierny is expected to stretch across roughly four weeks, with prosecutors lining up dozens of witnesses to build their case.

At the heart of the prosecution’s evidence is Davis’s own past. He wrote a tell-all memoir in 2019 titled “Compton Street Legend,” in which he detailed his account of the night Shakur was killed, describing a plan to confront the rapper and Death Row Records boss Marion “Suge” Knight after an earlier altercation. Davis also spoke openly about the case in numerous interviews with police and media over the years, statements prosecutors now plan to use directly against him at trial.

Davis, for his part, has since disputed the accuracy of those accounts, claiming his previous statements were exaggerated in an effort to sell books and blaming his co-author for inserting inaccurate details.

The case has drawn extraordinary attention, with a witness list that includes Suge Knight, who was riding in the vehicle with Shakur and was also injured in the shooting. Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, members of Shakur’s family, and documentary filmmakers who have covered the case are also expected to testify as the trial unfolds.

If convicted, Davis could face life in prison for a killing that has haunted the music industry and captivated true-crime followers for a generation.

Photo Credit: Le Monde