Trial for the murder of Tupac Shakur begins

The official trial for the murder of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur officially began today, 30 years after the rapper's death.

On September 7, 1996, Tupac was shot near the Las Vegas Strip after attending a Mike Tyson fight. He ended up on life support before passing six days later.

Prosecutors aim to show that one-time leader of the Southside Compton Crips, Duane 'Keffe D' Davis, ordered the killing and provided the gun used. He has pleaded not-guilty to the murder.

Tupac was signed to Death Row Records, run by Marion 'Suge' Knight, who was largely affiliated with Mob Piru, an LA gang with Blood alliances.

Keffe D was associated with Bad Boy Records, run by Sean 'Diddy' Combs and home to deceased rapper, The Notorious B.I.G.

On the night of the murder, Suge and Tupac beat up Keffe D's nephew, Orlando 'Baby Lane' Anderson, in retaliation for an alleged assault on another Death Row Records member.

Later that night, a white Cadillac containing Keffe D, Baby Lane and others, pulled up beside Tupac and open fired.

The murder remained a cold-case for nearly 30 years due to a lack of evidence.

In 2019 however, Keffe D released his auto-biography Compton Street Legend, which recounted the night of Tupac's murder. In the book, Keeffe D refers to himself as the "shot caller" and explains that he was in the front seat of the Cadillac and passed the pistol back, not naming who pulled the trigger.

Keffe D was arrested in Nevada in September 2023 and charged with murder with the use of a deadly weapon.

His legal team claim that he did not write his own book and therefore it couldn't be used in court. Days later - on a phone call to his mistress from prison - Keffe D admitted that he did in fact, write his own book.

Keffe D also claimed that he was in Los Angeles the night of the murder, which contradicts what he told police during a 2008 witness interview.

Both the interview and the book were deemed admissible as evidence by a judge.

"I'm innocent. I ain't killed nobody. Never did ever kill nobody," Keffe D said in an interview from prison with ABC News.

Keffe D also told police in the 2025 documentary Sean Combs: The Reckoning that Diddy offered him $1 million to kill Tupac Shakur.

Theories of Tupac's death have been rampant since the tragedy occurred. Rapper Eminem even mentioned Keffe D in his song 'Fuel' with JID,

"R.I.P., rest in peace, Biggie,
And Pac, both of y'all should be living (Yep),
But I ain't tryna beef with him (Nope),
'Cause he might put a hit on me like, "Keefe D, get 'em"

Maurice Shakur, stepbrother of the rapper, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in civil court this May.

"There remain individuals who were involved in Tupac's murder who, for 30 years, have not been held accountable for their crimes."