The trial of the sole suspect charged in the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur has been postponed for nearly a year, nearly three decades after his death. During a brief hearing in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny stated that she had little option but to reschedule the trial due to new developments presented by the defense team of Duane “Keffe D” Davis.
Davis, 61, was charged with Tupac’s murder in September 2023 and has been incarcerated since his arrest. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. The trial has already been delayed twice, first from June to November 2024, and then to March 2025. It has now been rescheduled for February 2026.
Judge Kierny noted, “It looks like there are quite a few things that are left to be done to get this case prepared so that Mr. Davis can have effective assistance of counsel.” Davis, a former gang leader from Los Angeles, agreed to the lengthy postponement when asked by the judge.
His defense team argues that the significant time elapsed since the shooting necessitates additional time for thorough investigations to ensure a fair trial. They filed a motion last week requesting the delay, stating that a private investigator had identified witnesses who could testify that Davis was not present at the shooting scene. They also claim to have information indicating that Shakur was in stable condition while hospitalized and are consulting medical and forensic experts to explore potential alternative causes of death.
Tupac Shakur was shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996. At the time, he was a passenger in a BMW driven by Marion “Suge” Knight, the founder of Death Row Records, when a white Cadillac pulled up alongside them at a red light and opened fire. Both men were hospitalized; Knight sustained injuries, but Shakur died six days later.
While Davis is not accused of being the shooter, he is alleged to have orchestrated the attack. In Nevada, individuals can be charged with a crime, including murder, if they assist in its commission. Davis has previously claimed in interviews and a 2019 book that he was in the car involved in the shooting. However, his court documents state that any descriptions he provided in recent years were “done for entertainment purposes and to make money.”
In his memoir, Davis implicated his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, a member of the South Side Compton Crips gang, as one of the two individuals in the backseat during the incident. Anderson, a known rival of Shakur, had been involved in a brawl with the rapper shortly before the shooting.