Tupac murder suspect glares at his lawyer in disbelief after judge refuses to toss case over controversial confession

Tupac murder suspect glares at his lawyer in disbelief after judge refuses to toss case over controversial confession

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A SELF-CONFESSED drug smuggling Compton gang kingpin will stand trial for the murder of rap legend Tupac Shakur after failing to convince a judge of his innocence.

Duane “Keefe D” Davis, 61, glared at his attorney and shook his head in disbelief after learning he may now face life in prison for the September 13, 1996, unsolved shooting.

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Suspect Duane Davis pictured in Clark County District Court on Tuesday as he appeared for a hearing to dismiss all charges for the murder of rap legend Tupac ShakurCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Duane Davis, handcuffed, in court during a hearing on a motion to dismiss murder charges.

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A judge ruled that Duane ‘Keefe D’ Davis will stand trial for the infamous 1996 shootingCredit: Getty Images/POOL
Tupac Shakur performing on stage.

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Tupac Shakur performs at the Regal Theater in Chicago, Illinois in March 1994Credit: Getty Images – Getty
Judge Carli Kierny presiding over a hearing.

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Judge Carli Kierny dismissed all Duane Davis’ claims that he was unfairly being prosecutedCredit: Getty Images/POOL

Davis, who was shackled by the legs and his wrists handcuffed, swayed in shock and appeared vexed after Judge Carli Kierny upheld the murder charge against him during a court appearance in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

After the court was adjourned, Davis sat shaking his head and appeared distraught.

A source close to Davis told The U.S. Sun the jailed gangbanger was left “seething” after he was ordered to stand trial.

“Right now he is seething. He really believed that court would rule in his favor,” the friend said.

Read more in The U.S. Sun

“He really had built his hopes up that the law was on his side and his lawyer was right.”

Judge Kierny refused to accept any of Davis’s legal efforts to have his trial called off.

The judge dismissed all Davis’ claims that he was unfairly being prosecuted.

The prosecution’s arguments were enough for Kierny to feel satisfied that the bar around murder within Nevada state law was met for Davis to face criminal trial, and possible life imprisonment if found convicted.

The 25-minute hearing, which featured robust arguments from both the defense and prosecution, ended with the bombshell decision.

Davis’ murder trial is currently set to begin March 17. He is due in court on February 11 for a status hearing.

‘My dad is innocent – he’s only in prison because of two dirty cops’ Tupac suspect Keefe D’s son rages in rare interview

Judge Kierny ruled against all of Davis’ claims to have the case tossed and concluded that no immunity deal exists with Las Vegas authorities preventing his trial.

She added that no evidence has been found to confirm Davis’ claims that he has a federal government immunity deal over his admissions to being the shot caller to Tupac’s death.

The judge agreed with prosecutors that Davis was warned by his own attorney and a Las Vegas Metro Police cop that confessing to the crime during an interview carried no protection.

And she declared he didn’t help his cause by revealing “additional information on own admission” in media interviews revelling in the fame and money, which she described as “pecuniary gain.”

Davis has confessed to police officers in Los Angeles and Las Vegas as well to multiple media outlets to being the shot caller in the execution of Tupac in Sin City in September 1996.

‘INJUSTICE CASE’

Davis’ lawyer Carl Arnold came out firing insisting that his client should walk free.

“The law is clear – the state cannot proceed solely based on his admissions and if they don’t have any evidence to corroborate those admissions the case should be dismissed,” the defense attorney said in court.

Arnold added, “But for Mr. Davis speaking and giving those statements the state does not have a case.”

He said that the state did not provide any extra evidence which is a “huge problem.”

Arnold claimed that Davis could not be given a fair trial given the Southside Crips members, who were in the car and fired the shots that killed Tupac in September 1996 have all died.

“Without for co-conspirators and witnesses Eric Martin, Deandre Smith, Terence Brown and Orlando Anderson being alive my client is sufficiently prejudiced beyond repair,” Arnold argued.

Arnold claimed a 2009 interview given by Davis to a Las Vegas Metro Police detective, identified by the surname “Long” in court document, was “confidential and covered and you cannot be charged on it.”

He added that Davis’ comments confessing to his role in the murder during an interview to a Los Angeles gang task force in 2008 were protected under na immunity deal.

The defense attorney argued that any trial of Davis would be “illegal” insisting his client’s comments cannot be enough to prosecute.

Arnold branded the prosecution’s witnesses’ comments of Davis being in Las Vegas in September 1996 as “hearsay.”

Why it’s taken so long for justice in the Tupac Shakur case

By The Sun’s Senior Reporter Emma Parry, who has been reporting on the Tupac murder for the past 10 years

TUPAC fans have been waiting for justice for the iconic rapper for almost 28 years.

Finally in September 2023 there appeared to be progress with the arrest of Duane “Keefe D” Davis – a former Southside Crip gangster from Compton, LA – who had been telling the world for years that he and his fellow “gang soldiers” were responsible for the hit.

I’ve been reporting on the case for several years and it always appeared pretty cut and dry…Keefe had spent the past decade gaining notoriety by boasting about his alleged involvement in the shooting – now he was finally getting what he deserves. But despite Keefe running his mouth for years, I now believe a guilty verdict in November’s trial is far from guaranteed.

Keefe describes in great detail in his memoir Compton Street Legend what went down the night Pac was shot, extracts from which The U.S. Sun has published.

He claimed that he was offered a million dollars by rapper Diddy to “handle” Tupac and Suge Knight and when he and his Crip gangsters came across the pair driving near the Strip in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, Keefe alleged he passed the gun to his nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson who took the shot. Keefe said if Pac had been on his side: “I would have blast”.

Keefe repeated the claims multiple times over the years, on YouTube channels, documentaries, and even in taped confessions to police, when he believed he could not be prosecuted. In one confession to the LAPD, Keefe appeared completely remorseless telling detectives: “We didn’t give a f**k…The ambulance [for Tupac] was parked right here next to us. That s**t was as funny as a motherf**ker.”

The Sun has been publishing stories about Keefe’s self confessed involvement in the crime since 2018.

I sent many links to his confessions to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, asking them why this man had not been arrested yet. They would thank me for the info but say that they could not comment because the case was still active. From the outside, it looked like no action was being taken at all. 

We spoke to former detectives involved in the case and documentary makers who all felt utterly frustrated at the lack of progress in the case. We even published a plea from former LAPD detective Greg Kading, who had probed the murders, urging Las Vegas cops to arrest Keefe, back in 2020.

For years, the case appeared to have been forgotten and ignored, to be left forever unsolved. 

But finally, in the summer of 2023, we got word from our sources that there had been a huge development in the case. A secret grand jury was due to be held on whether or not Keefe should be indicted. I was dubious at first but around the same time a house in Henderson, Nevada, linked to Keefe, was raided in July as part of the Tupac investigation. 

Things were heating up.

Later that summer, behind closed doors, jurors listened to hours of testimony from former cops, detectives, and coroners involved in the Tupac case and gangsters and associates of Keefe’s and Pac’s from back in the day. They were shown graphic photos of Tupac’s bullet-ridden body. After days of evidence, they decided there was enough evidence to prosecute Keefe. 

Once the secret documents were released I poured over the transcripts. While interesting, many of the witnesses were telling stories they’d heard second-hand. None of the prosecution witnesses had a clear look at who shot Pac. One witness Devonta Lee claimed another gangster called Big Dre took the shot – not Orlando. Maybe things weren’t as clear-cut as I first thought.

Keefe was then arrested on September 30, 2023 at his home. Bodycam footage we obtained from the scene showed Keefe bragging to cops even as he was handcuffed in the back of a police car – telling officers he was involved in the “biggest case in Las Vegas history”.

Following Keefe’s multiple appearances in court, he seems to have lost much of that bravado and now cuts a sad, lonely figure.

Suffering from various health problems as a result of cancer, he’s struggling to cope with the brutalities of jail life and can’t get together enough money to afford his bail. He feels some of his old Southside Crip associates – men he handed wads of cash to in his glory days, have just abandoned him.

Keefe is now desperate to get out of jail, and his defense stems is leaning on his claim that he completely made up his involvement in the Tupac murder for fame and money. He saw other people cashing in on the murder so he thought he would too. He reckons his confessions to police were all lies – he made it up because he was under a plea deal and thought it would help him beat his other charges. 

And, according to his lawyer Carl Arnold, he wasn’t even in Las Vegas on the night of the shooting. Arnold remains convinced he will see his client walk free and their secret weapon could be former Death Row Records boss Suge. 

As the only other person still alive from either car, Suge, currently in prison for a fatal hit and run, would be a key witness. Suge is the only person still alive who knows what went down – he saw the shooter. While he’s said he won’t testify at the November trial, Suge has claimed in a TMZ interview from prison that Orlando was not the shooter, which again throws into doubt Keefe’s version of events. 

Keefe and his lawyer are hoping they might be able to change his mind and persuade him to testify for the defense. And Suge holds the power to blow the prosecution’s case apart.

And if Keefe walks free, will there ever be justice for Pac? 

Prosecutor DiGiacomo shot down Arnold’s comment that “allegedly” Tupac died.

DiGiacomo started said that, “Mr. Shakur didn’t shoot himself,” adding Davis “clearly has criminal agency in this case.”

The prosecutor revealed that detective Long never told Davis he had immunity and would not have had the authority to offer him that deal.

He added that Davis nor his legal teams zero evidence of any immunity.

“Mr Davis chose upon himself to publicly confess to a crime multiple crimes – and that is the evidence.” He finished: “He needs to stand trial,” DiGiacomo said.

Davis, dressed in a blue Clark County Detention Center jumpsuit, appeared aggravated as he rocked in his seat and glared at the public gallery filled with media, before hearing began.

Before his hearing began, he glared miserably at DiGiacomo, who spoke with Arnold intensely.

The court drama is the latest in 16 months of back and forth legal arguments between Davis’ defense team and prosecutors.

Davis has served up a raft of defenses to rebut the district attorney’s accusations of him overseeing a gang of Compton Crips to hunt down Shakur on September 6, 1996.

Davis, who Arnold called “The Godfather Of Compton,” claimed that he had lied to everyone about his involvement in the infamous shooting.

The jailed gangster cited that he made up stories about his involvement in the killing for fame and fortune, earning thousands of dollars.

Last week, in a 35-page motion, Davis’ attorney argued to dismiss the murder charges accusing prosecutors of violating his client’s constitutional rights and having insufficient evidence or corroboration for their case.

Arnold added the 29-year wait for a case resulted in the “dimming of memories, the death or disappearance of witnesses, and the loss or destruction of material physical evidence.”

Davis even alleged that the Los Angeles Police Department’s gang task force officers “co-erced” a confession from him over the assassination, which law enforcement officials denied.

He claimed he could never get a fair trial as a 150-minute tape recording of his confessions to Los Angeles police has been in the public domain for over a decade.

Davis also claims he had an immunity deal, which he said stands to this day, from the federal government that protects him from any prosecution in connection to Tupac’s death.

Arnold claimed Davis was granted immunity by then Assistant United States Attorney Michael Terrell in July 1998.

The defense attorney even claimed that there was no evidence Davis was in Vegas on the night of the murder.

But prosecutors knocked back all Davis’ claims made in his motion.

Tupac Shakur backstage in Chicago.

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Tupac Shakur was fatally shot near the Las Vegas strip on September 13, 1996Credit: Getty Images – Getty
Duane Davis, handcuffed, gestures during a court hearing.

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Duane Davis was left in disbelief after a judge ordered him to stand trialCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Duane Davis booking photo.

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For years, Davis has boasted in several media interviews about his involvement in Tupac’s killingCredit: Handout – Getty

Their 180-page court filing states Davis, “confessed to being involved in Shakur’s murder in nearly every forum imaginable.

“Defendant confessed to some of his role in Shakur’s murder during an interview with LVMPD Homicide in 2009.

“Defendant admitted to seeking a deadly confrontation with Knight and Shakur in interviews with the producers of the Death Row Chronicles in 2017.

“Defendant recounted his involvement in Shakur’s murder in his book published in 2019, and Defendant has gleefully claimed responsibility for the murder of Shakur in numerous YouTube interviews from 2019 up until his arrest.”

Included in their files was a 143-page transcript where Davis explained in detail how he oversaw three other Compton Crips to hunt and shoot at Tupac and Suge Knight.

The transcript notes that detective “Long” of the Metro Police told Davis that he was not being offered any immunity deals for his interview.

Prosecutors debunked the claims, saying no paperwork of any immunity deal between Davis, federal authorities and Los Angeles police was were located.

They also outlined how they have statements from witnesses to confirm Davis was in Las Vegas at the time of Tupac’s murder.

The U.S. Sun exclusively spoke to Duane Jr., Davis’ son, who expressed his confidence in his dad walking free before a trial.

The son insisted that his father’s case set out by prosecutors would not hold up and made unfounded allegations about prosecutors and Judge Kierny.

Duane Jr. added that his father, who previously served a string of prison sentences, was no career criminal but a dedicated father and grandad, who is a keen gardener.



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