Jurors on Thursday heard Duane “Keffe D” Davis state in a 2008 interview that his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, fired the shots that killed Tupac Shakur in 1996. Davis, who claims he was also in the vehicle during the drive-by shooting, is accused of orchestrating the killing of the 25-year-old hip-hop superstar in Las Vegas.
During the audio-recorded interview, Davis recounted that the white Cadillac he and Anderson were traveling in, along with two other individuals, pulled alongside Shakur's vehicle. Shakur was in the car with Marion “Suge” Knight, the head of Death Row Records. Davis stated he initially passed a gun to Deandre “Big Dre” Smith, who declined it. Anderson, seated in the back, then took the weapon and began firing, according to Davis's statement.
The transcript of the interview was presented to the jury, some of whom took notes. Davis’s family and Shakur’s family were present in the courtroom.
This interview marked the first time Davis directly discussed his alleged involvement in the killing with authorities. Prosecutors are relying on Davis’s admissions in police interviews, podcasts, and his co-authored 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend,” as essential evidence in the case against the 63-year-old.
However, Davis had previously told the FBI that his nephew was not involved in the 1996 shooting and speculated that Knight or Sean “Diddy” Combs might have been involved. Davis has pleaded not guilty, and his defense attorney has characterized the prosecution's narrative as fictional, arguing that authorities lacked corroborating evidence for Davis's statements.
Investigators had initially interviewed Davis to discuss the 1997 shooting death of Shakur's rival, the Notorious B.I.G. Davis had briefly been considered a suspect in that unsolved case before being cleared. Daryn Dupree, one of the detectives present during the 2008 interview, testified that “Everybody was a suspect at that time.”
Detectives informed Davis that their discussion was confidential and that “Nothing you say today can be used against you,” according to Greg Kading, the other detective who later described the interview in a book. However, prosecutors contend that Davis forfeited any such agreement by subsequently sharing his accounts in interviews and his memoir, thereby nullifying any confidentiality protections.
Prosecutors allege that Shakur's killing was retaliation for an assault on Davis's nephew, Anderson, by Shakur's entourage earlier that evening outside a Mike Tyson fight. Davis was present at the fight but not involved in the subsequent altercation.
Davis stated that after Anderson fired the shots, he believed Knight had been killed. Decades after his death, Tupac Shakur remains a significant cultural figure and one of the most influential rappers, his legend growing since his death at the peak of his career.