Tupac Shakur killing: Closing arguments in Duane Davis case expected to begin Monday

LAS VEGAS: The long-running murder case linked to the death of hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur seems to be moving towards its final stage. According to CBS News, closing arguments in the trial of Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis are expected to begin on Monday, after the defence finished presenting its case.

Davis, 63, is the only person to face prosecution in connection with Shakur’s 1996 killing. He has pleaded not guilty to murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. If convicted, he could face life in prison, as per CBS News.

The jury is scheduled to return on Monday for closing arguments before starting its discussions on the verdict. The trial saw nine days of testimony, with the prosecution calling 24 witnesses.

Davis did not testify during the trial. According to CBS News, his defence has argued that his past accounts of the shooting were made for money and attention and that investigators were unable to independently confirm important parts of his story.

Duane “Keefe D” Davis, the defendant in the Tupac Shakur murder trial, says publication of his home address during the trial is “endangering my family’s life.”#KeefeD #DuaneDavis #Tupac #2Pac pic.twitter.com/toa7Sk7ESC

— The Associated Press (@AP) August 21, 2026

Retired Las Vegas homicide detective Dan Long was the final witness for the defence. As per the news outlet, he told the court that he had tried to verify details Davis gave during a 2009 police interview but was unable to find records supporting some of the claims.

Davis had told Long that his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, went to a Las Vegas hospital after being involved in a casino fight with Shakur and others hours before the shooting. Long said he could not find hospital records showing that Anderson had been treated there, said CBS News.

Long also said he could not find records for a white Cadillac that Davis said had been rented before the shooting. When a juror asked whether he could independently confirm that Davis was inside the Cadillac on the night Shakur was killed, Long said Davis himself had told him he was in the car and that the shots came from the vehicle.

According to the news outlet, during questioning by the defence, Long agreed that he had no independent evidence confirming Davis was inside the Cadillac.

Prosecutors, however, argued that Davis’ account was consistent with information investigators had already gathered. During cross-examination, Long said Davis named the same four people investigators already believed were inside the Cadillac when Shakur was shot, CBS News said.

Long also told the court that after interviewing Davis in 2009, he returned to Las Vegas planning to seek a murder arrest warrant because he believed there was probable cause. Prosecutors at the time asked him to wait while they reviewed the case.

The defence also called two former Las Vegas police officers who had been assigned to maintain peace at Marion “Suge” Knight’s home on the night of the shooting. They spoke about vehicles entering and leaving the gated property, including a cream- or white-coloured Cadillac.

Shakur was shot on September 7, 1996, while travelling in a BMW with Knight near the Las Vegas Strip. A white Cadillac pulled alongside the car at a red light before shots were fired. Shakur was hit several times and died six days later. Knight survived the attack.

Years after the shooting, Davis said he had obtained the gun used in the attack and that his nephew Anderson, who has since died, fired the shots. Prosecutors say Davis planned the killing in retaliation for the casino fight involving Anderson.

The case remained unsolved for decades before Davis’ public interviews and his 2019 memoir brought fresh attention to the killing. Prosecutors have also relied on his previous interviews, memoir and recorded jail calls as part of their case. (ANI)