After he was arrested in September in connection with the long-unsolved 1996 murder of rap superstar Tupac Shakur, suspect Duane "Keefe D" Davis has entered a not guilty plea.
UPDATE (11/7 3:54 p.m. ET): Davis will stand trial on June 3, 2024, a Nevada judge has ruled [via the Associated Press].
As Rolling Stone reports, the State will not seek the death penalty for former California street gang boss Davis's role as "shot-caller" in the drive-by shooting that took place a block off the Las Vegas Strip, mortally wounding 25-year-old Shakur and wounding Death Row Records godfather Marion "Suge" Knight.
Having been charged with first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon with a gang enhancement, Davis gave prosecutors the opportunity to press for the death penalty — but they elected not to. The 60-year-old is the last living suspect in the homicide case, in which Las Vegas investigators finally got a long-awaited break this year.
According to police, the investigation was reinvigorated in 2019 thanks to Davis's own admissions of his participation (in his memoir, Compton Street Legend), returning to the news this summer after Las Vegas Metro served him a search warrant. They recovered a tub of photos, documents, news clippings regarding Shakur and several .40-calibre cartridges.
In court today, Davis's not guilty plea led him to be assigned special public defenders Charles Cano and Robert Arroyo after he failed to reach a financial arrangement with former defence attorney Ross Goodman. The suspect waived his right to an expedited trial in 60 days, with District Judge Tierra Jones scheduling a status check-in for November 7, when a trial date can be expected to be set.
Davis allegedly passed the murder weapon — a .40-calibre handgun — to his nephew (and suspected triggerman), Orlando Anderson. Police deemed it a retaliation for an earlier attack on Anderson by Shakur, Knight and others the night of the heavyweight boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon at the MGM Grand Hotel, where surveillance footage captured Davis's nephew being kicked and punched.
UPDATE (11/7 3:54 p.m. ET): Davis will stand trial on June 3, 2024, a Nevada judge has ruled [via the Associated Press].
As Rolling Stone reports, the State will not seek the death penalty for former California street gang boss Davis's role as "shot-caller" in the drive-by shooting that took place a block off the Las Vegas Strip, mortally wounding 25-year-old Shakur and wounding Death Row Records godfather Marion "Suge" Knight.
Having been charged with first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon with a gang enhancement, Davis gave prosecutors the opportunity to press for the death penalty — but they elected not to. The 60-year-old is the last living suspect in the homicide case, in which Las Vegas investigators finally got a long-awaited break this year.
According to police, the investigation was reinvigorated in 2019 thanks to Davis's own admissions of his participation (in his memoir, Compton Street Legend), returning to the news this summer after Las Vegas Metro served him a search warrant. They recovered a tub of photos, documents, news clippings regarding Shakur and several .40-calibre cartridges.
In court today, Davis's not guilty plea led him to be assigned special public defenders Charles Cano and Robert Arroyo after he failed to reach a financial arrangement with former defence attorney Ross Goodman. The suspect waived his right to an expedited trial in 60 days, with District Judge Tierra Jones scheduling a status check-in for November 7, when a trial date can be expected to be set.
Davis allegedly passed the murder weapon — a .40-calibre handgun — to his nephew (and suspected triggerman), Orlando Anderson. Police deemed it a retaliation for an earlier attack on Anderson by Shakur, Knight and others the night of the heavyweight boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon at the MGM Grand Hotel, where surveillance footage captured Davis's nephew being kicked and punched.
