Tupac murder trial: 'All hell broke loose' night of rapper's shooting, witness says
After he was shot multiple times, Tupac Shakur refused to cooperate with police and told an officer, "We'll take care of it," an officer testified.
**Tupac Murder Trial: Witness Recalls "All Hell Broke Loose" on Night of Shooting**
The murder trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis, accused of orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting that killed iconic rapper Tupac Shakur, began with prosecutors portraying Davis as a man seeking retribution. Witnesses transported a Las Vegas jury back three decades to a time when gang influence permeated 90s hip-hop and a deep-seated distrust of law enforcement contributed to a lack of cooperation, ultimately leading to one of the last century's most notorious cold cases.
Davis, 63, faces charges in connection with Shakur's murder. Prosecutors contend that while Davis did not personally fire the fatal shot, he allegedly masterminded the killing. Davis has vehemently denied these allegations and entered a plea of not guilty.
**Gang Leader on Trial in Tupac's Murder: Key Details**
During opening arguments, the prosecution presented Davis as the ringleader behind the shooting, citing a co-authored memoir in which he detailed the events of that night. Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal informed the jury, "Let's be clear, Duane Davis did not pull the trigger. But he did plan the shooting in retaliation of the beating of his nephew. Remarkably, you will learn that from Duane Davis himself."
Davis's legal team dismissed this narrative as "fiction," asserting that the case is a product of a flawed, decades-long investigation. Davis has distanced himself from the memoir, claiming he did not write all of it and that certain sections were fictionalized to boost sales.
Wearing a navy suit and blue tie, Davis sat with his defense team as they questioned the nearly three-decade delay in arrests and the lack of corroborating evidence. His attorney, Michael Sanft, challenged, "What facts do they have after 30 years?"
The prosecution's initial witness was Garry Dale, who was a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer at the time of the September 1996 shooting. Dale recounted riding in an ambulance with Shakur after he was shot, stating that the rapper refused to provide any information about the incident or his assailant. According to Dale's testimony, Shakur simply said, "We'll take care of it."
At the heart of the case are the East Coast vs. West Coast rap rivalries and the turf wars between the Bloods and Crips street gangs, conflicts that were immortalized in 1990s rap lyrics and news reports. Police have long attributed the investigation's dead ends to a lack of cooperation. However, members of Shakur's entourage have accused authorities of initially treating them as suspects and failing to pursue crucial leads.
Throughout Monday, prosecutors emphasized to the jury that the absence of formal criminal charges in the shooting stemmed from a culture where, in the world of guns and gangs, "silence means survival." Yet, prosecutors noted that "one person" who struggled to remain silent was the defendant, Davis, who provided "a number" of statements on the case between 1998 and 2003.
Prosecutors allege that Davis planned the shooting after his nephew, Orlando Anderson, was involved in an altercation with Shakur in Las Vegas just hours earlier. They argued that Davis believed the attack on his nephew could not "go unanswered."
The iconic rapper was only 25 years old when he was fatally shot after a Mike Tyson boxing match on September 7, 1996, succumbing to his injuries six days later. Prosecutors contend that Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips street gang, was the "on-ground, on-site commander" who "ordered the death" of Shakur.
The murder case had largely gone cold until Davis himself made public statements, including publishing a memoir in 2019. In the book and various interviews, Davis claimed he was a passenger in the vehicle from which shots were fired into Shakur's car that night. He stated in the book that he provided the gun used in the murder to his nephew, Anderson, who then shot the rapper.
Davis's attorneys have argued that the book is fictional and should not be admitted as evidence in a criminal trial related to a three-decade-old case, but a judge ruled it admissible. His defense team has highlighted missing police reports, disputed evidence, and "biased, sloppy and incomplete" detective work. They further alleged that prosecutors relied on "unreliable people with criminal records, financial motivations and inconsistent statements." The defense also argued that witnesses altered their stories over time, influenced by money, media attention, or information provided by investigators.
**Insights from Opening Statements**
Opening statements commenced on Monday following a week of jury selection. Over the coming weeks, witnesses, experts, investigators, and potentially even some celebrity witnesses are expected to testify about the events of that night.
Prosecutors allege that Davis acquired a gun and organized two vehicles, one a white Cadillac carrying three other men, including his nephew Anderson, to travel to a Las Vegas club. Palal informed the jury that the men decided to "get some booze and go back to the Vegas strip and party." However, during their journey, they encountered a caravan of cars and spotted Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion "Suge" Knight in one of the vehicles.
Palal alleges that at this point, Davis and the others in the Cadillac decided to make a U-turn and confront Shakur and Knight. Davis, who was in the passenger seat, reportedly passed a gun to Anderson, who then fired into Shakur's car.
Ingrid Stokes, who was present at the time of the shooting, testified that she and her friends were driving around Las Vegas that night when they encountered Knight and Shakur. Her friend knew Knight, who suggested the women follow them to a club, Stokes said. As they drove through Vegas, Stokes recounted, "there was a car behind us, trying to get in front of us." At one point, they stopped at a light and pulled over to switch drivers due to concerns about the other vehicle. "We were head down, taking our seat belts off, when we heard the gunshots," Stokes testified. "All hell broke loose."
For the latest trial updates, listen to the BBC Sounds podcast 'Fame Under Fire: The Tupac Murder Trial,' available wherever you get your BBC podcasts.