Duane ‘Keefe D’ Davis faces judge in 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur
LAS VEGAS — Duane “Keefe D” Davis made his first court appearance Wednesday morning in the killing of Tupac Shakur more than 27 years ago.
Prosecutors announced last week that the 60-year-old reputed member of the South Side Crips gang was indicted on a charge of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang.
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Davis walked into the courtroom in handcuffs, wearing a dark blue Clark County Detention Center uniform. He told the judge that he is being represented by Los Angeles-based lawyer Edi Faal, who could not be there for the hearing.
Faal said in an emailed messaged Wednesday that he is “tasked with helping him hire an attorney in this case.” He declined to comment further on the case.
District Judge Tierra Jones ordered Davis back in court on Oct. 19
Although Davis is not accused of shooting the hip-hop icon, prosecutors have alleged that he was the “on-ground, on-sight commander” responsible for formulating a plan to carry out the shooting.
Under Nevada law, someone can be charged with murder if prosecutors allege they aided and abetting in the crime.
Mario Scott, who said he is Shakur’s cousin, attended the hearing Wednesday with his wife, Katina Scott. He said the couple is Shakur’s only family who live in Las Vegas, and that he had “a lot of emotion” watching Davis face a judge 27 years after Shakur was killed.
“We thought it was over and done,” said Mario Scott, who was 9 years old when Shakur died.
Katina Scott said she felt that it took “a substantially long time” for authorities to bring charges against someone in connection with the fatal shooting.
“But at the end of the day, we’re very glad that justice is prevailing and that it is happening right here in Vegas, where the murder occurred,” she said.
Davis is accused of orchestrating the plan to shoot Shakur and Death Row Records CEO Marion “Suge” Knight on Sept. 7, 1996, in retaliation for a fight at the MGM Grand earlier that night involving Shakur and Davis’ nephew, Orlando Anderson.
