Judge refuses to dismiss case against Tupac Shakur slaying suspect
A Las Vegas judge refused to dismiss a murder charge on Tuesday against Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the man accused of orchestrating the 1996 killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur.
Davis, 61, has been in custody since he was indicted in September 2023 on a charge of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang.
Defense attorney Carl Arnold filed a motion this month asking District Judge Carli Kierny to dismiss the case, arguing that officials had delayed prosecuting Davis and were in violation of an agreement that reportedly gave his client immunity from prosecution.
Prosecutors last week filed a response arguing that Davis has provided “absolutely no proof” that he is immune from prosecution in Nevada.
After listening to arguments on Tuesday, Kierny agreed with prosecutors, stating that it’s “fairly clear that the state of Nevada never gave him immunity.”
Following the hearing, Arnold said he will be deciding in the next couple of days if he will appeal the judge’s decision to the Nevada Supreme Court. He said he was not surprised that the judge did not dismiss the murder charge.
“You’re not just going to dismiss the biggest case in the U.S. right off the bat,” Arnold said. “But you have to put these issues out for an appellate court.”
Davis, a reported member of the South Side Crips, is accused of ordering the drive-by shooting that killed Shakur and injured Death Row Records CEO Marion “Suge” Knight. The shooting was allegedly part of an ongoing feud between the South Side Crips and the Bloods-associated Mob Piru gang, and was in retaliation for a fight at the MGM Grand involving Shakur, Knight, and Davis’ nephew Orlando Anderson.
The South Side Crips were associated with the Bay Boy Records label owned by Sean “Diddy” Combs, while the Mob Piru gang was tied to Death Row Records, prosecutors have said.
Arnold argued on Tuesday that the state cannot bring a case against Davis when the only evidence that Davis was involved in the murder is his own admissions. Prosecutors have said the renewed investigation into Shakur’s killing was spurred by Davis’ 2019 co-written book and public statements he had made about the shooting.
“Mr. Davis chose upon himself to publicly confess to a crime multiple times,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo said Tuesday. “Mr. Davis has no basis to complain that he’s sitting in that box right now.”
Despite his public statements, Arnold has argued that there is no evidence Davis was in Las Vegas at the time of the shooting, and he has claimed that Davis only published the book to make money.
The judge ruled that because there is evidence that the murder occurred, that is enough for Davis to face the charges
Arnold also argued there was a “tactical delay” by prosecutors by not filing charges against Davis until many people involved in the case died, including the three men who were reportedly in the car with Davis during the drive-by shooting. But the judge ruled that there was a “pretty significant” justification for the delayed prosecution, and there is no evidence that a delay would help prosecutors.
Attorneys also discussed some of the multiple agreements between Davis and law enforcement that Arnold has claimed made his client immune from prosecution.
Davis’ defense attorney has pointed to a reported “proffer agreement” from 2008 between Davis and officials who were investigating the murder of Christopher “Biggie” Wallace, a Bad Boy Records artist killed less than a year after Shakur was fatally shot. Prosecutors have argued that the agreement does not bind any other law enforcement agency or prosecuting authority.
A year after that agreement, Davis met with a detective from the Metropolitan Police Department about Shakur’s killing. Arnold said Tuesday that the detective repeatedly told Davis during that meeting that he was not going to arrest him. DiGiacomo argued that the detective never specified that Davis had immunity, and that he had no authority to do so.
Kierny said that it appeared Davis was attempting to give “very general” information during that meeting to avoid a murder charge, on the advice of his lawyer at the time.
Davis remains in the Clark County Detention Center with a $750,000 bail. He is set to appear in court again on Feb. 11 for a status check.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.
