Judge clears use of police interview in trial for man accused of murdering Tupac Shakur
FILE-Duane "Keffe D" Davis appears in a Las Vegas court on October 19, 2023 for his arraignment on murder charges in the death of rapper Tupac Shakur. (Photo by JOHN LOCHER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
A judge ruled that the recording of an interview the man accused of murdering Tupac Shakur provided to authorities in 2008 could be used at his upcoming trial.
Nevada Judge Carli Kierny determined that the interview is admissible in Duane "Keffe D" Davis' trial, which is set for Aug. 10.
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Davis, 63, is charged with murder in Shakur's 1996 killing and faces life in prison without parole if convicted. Prosecutors are accusing Davis of coordinating the killing.
According to The Associated Press, Davis' 2008 interview to law enforcement was used in former Los Angeles Police Department Detective Greg Kading’s book "Murder Rap: The Untold Story of the Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations." Portions of the recording were also played in documentaries, including the recent documentary "Sean Combs: The Reckoning."
Prosecutors argued there was no basis to exclude the interview from the trial, which is expected to take about four weeks.
Tupac Shakur murder case
Dig deeper:
Tupac Shakur’s death is considered one of the most notorious unsolved murders in the nation.
According to The Associated Press, the rapper’s murder case went cold until Davis started making public statements about it, including in a book he co-wrote in which he claimed he was in the Cadillac and provided the gun used to shoot Shakur.
On Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur was killed in Las Vegas. He and Death Row Records founder Marion "Suge" Knight were sitting at a red light when a white Cadillac pulled up beside them near the Las Vegas Strip, and gunfire erupted. Shakur was shot multiple times and died six days later. Knight survived with minor injuries.
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Three other men were with Davis in the Cadillac, including his nephew, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, but Davis is the only person still alive.
The AP reported that none of the others faced charges in Shakur's killing before they died. In his memoir, Davis claimed he obtained a handgun from an associate and tossed it into the back seat of the Cadillac but did not say who fired the fatal shots.
Davis wrote in his book that authorities were "clearly shocked and surprised" when he began answering questions about Tupac's death.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by The Associated Press and previous FOX Local reporting. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.