LAS VEGAS — Nearly 30 years after Tupac Shakur was ɠυɳned down on the Strip, the only person ever charged with his murder still hasn’t faced a jury.
Duane “Keefe D” Davis, 61, the ex-Compton Crip leader arrested Sept. 29, 2023 for the Sept. 7, 1996 drive-by śh́óóting that killed Shakur, was supposed to go on trial in June 2024, then Nov. 4, 2024, then March 17, 2025.
On Jan. 21, 2025, Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny pushed it again — to Feb. 9, 2026. Davis, who has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder with a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly-w𝔢𝔞𝔭𝔬η and gang enhancement, remains in custody.
Why another year?
1. A mountain of discovery.
Defense attorney Carl Arnold told the court he needed months to review what prosecutors called voluminous evidence: decades of LAPD / Las Vegas Metro files, grand jury transcripts, ballistics, and hours of Davis’s own jail calls.
2. The immunity fight.
This is the core legal war. Prosecutors allege Davis orchestrated the śh́óóting and has admitted it for years — most famously in his 2019 VladTV interviews, clips now viewed 10M+ times on YouTube, and in his memoir Compton Street Legend.
Davis claims those 2008-2009 statements to a federal task force were made under an immunity proffer deal and can’t be used. The judge needs extensive briefing before ruling what a jury can even hear. Source: ᴀssociated Press, Jan. 21, 2025; Las Vegas Review-Journal.
3. New witnesses, old case.
Arnold argued new witnesses had surfaced who could challenge the state’s theory that Davis handed the gun to his nephew Orlando Anderson in the white Cadillac. Finding, vetting and interviewing 28-year-old leads takes time. Prosecutors said they were ready, but did not strongly oppose a continuance to protect a fair-trial record.
On social media, frustration exploded. Court clips from KLAS 8 News Now and Court TV went viral on TikTok and X under #Tupac #KeefeD #JusticeForPac, with creators like DJ Akademiks and VladTV commentators asking: If the case is so strong, why wait until 2026?
The sharp answer: this is the most consequential hip-hop trial ever. A 1996 murder with no DNA, no surviving eyewitness ɠυɳɱαɳ, and a star defendant who talked for profit for a decade. One reversible error, and the case collapses forever.
Justice delayed feels like justice denied for Pac fans. But rushing a 30-year-old murder to trial risks exactly what both sides fear: a mistrial.
Next: pre-trial immunity hearings in late 2025, jury selection Feb. 2026 — if it holds.
Davis is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
