Trial of Tupac murder suspect postponed for almost a year

The trial of the only suspect ever to be charged with the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, almost 30 years after his death, has been postponed for almost a year.

During a short hearing in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny said she had little choice but to reschedule given new developments presented by Duane “Keffe D” Davis’ lawyers.

Davis, 61, was charged with Tupac‘s murder in September 2023 and has been in jail since his arrest. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and his trial has already been pushed back twice, from June to November 2024, and then to March this year.

Now, the case has been rescheduled for February 2026.

“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,” Judge Kierny said.

Davis, a former Los Angeles gang leader, agreed when asked by the judge if he was okay with moving the trial by such a long time.

His defence team argue it has been so long since the shooting that more time is needed for thorough investigations to ensure a fair trial.

They filed a motion last week calling for the trial to be delayed, saying a private investigator had identified witnesses who could testify that Davis was not at the scene of the shooting.

They also say they have witness information that Shakur was in stable condition while in hospital, and that they are consulting medical and forensic experts to evaluate potential alternative causes of death.

How did Tupac die?

Shakur was shot in a drive-by in Las Vegas on the night of 7 September 1996.

The rapper was sitting in the passenger seat of a BMW being driven by Marion “Suge” Knight, the founder of his record label, Death Row Records, when a white Cadillac pulled up next to them at a red light and shots were fired.

Both men were taken to hospital. Knight was wounded, but Shakur died six days later.

While Davis is not accused of being the gunman, he is accused of orchestrating the shooting. In Nevada, you can be charged with a crime, including murder, if you help someone commit the crime.

Davis has previously claimed publicly in interviews and in a book published in 2019 that he was in the car involved.

However, his court filings say any descriptions he has given 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, saying he was one of two people in the backseat.

Anderson, a known rival of Shakur, had been involved in a casino brawl with the rapper shortly before the shooting. Anderson, who denied any involvement, died in an unrelated gang shoot-out two years later.

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His attorney, Carl Arnold, has argued that he should never have been charged due to immunity agreements Davis claims he reached with federal and local prosecutors years ago, while living in California.

But prosecutors say they have strong evidence against Davis, who now lives in Nevada, and any immunity agreement was limited.

Knight is now in jail for an unrelated crime in the Los Angeles area in 2015.

Shakur, who was 25 when he died, is regarded as one of the most influential rappers of all time, known for hits including Dear Mama, Keep Ya Head Up, California Love, I Ain’t Mad At Cha, and Changes.

His killer has never been formally identified, and the case has been regarded as one of the world’s most infamous unsolved murders.