Jurors in a Las Vegas trial heard audio from a 2008 interview in which Duane “Keffe D” Davis told detectives that his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, fired the shots that killed Tupac Shakur, according to reports from the Apnews and The Guardian.
Davis, 63, is accused of orchestrating the 1996 killing of the 25-year-old rapper. In the recording, Davis stated he was in a white Cadillac with Anderson and two other men when they pulled up alongside a black BMW containing Shakur and Death Row Records head Marion “Suge” Knight. Davis claimed that because Knight’s car was on the opposite side, he passed his gun to Deandre “Big Dre” Smith, who declined it; Anderson then took the weapon and began firing. Davis added that he believed Knight was dead after the shots were fired.
Prosecutors allege the shooting was an act of revenge after Shakur’s entourage attacked Anderson a few hours earlier at the MGM Grand following a Mike Tyson fight. While Davis attended the fight, officials said he was not part of the brawl.
Evidence and Defense
The 2008 interview marked the first time Davis directly discussed his involvement in the killing with authorities. Prosecutors told jurors they will rely on this audio, as well as podcasts and Davis’s 2019 co-authored memoir, Compton Street Legend
, as essential evidence. However, the defense has pleaded not guilty, with Davis’s lawyer describing the prosecution’s narrative as fiction
and claiming Davis was full of crap
when recounting his involvement.
The defense further argued that investigators failed to provide evidence to back up Davis’s statements. Additionally, Davis had previously told the FBI that Anderson was not involved in the shooting, suggesting instead that Sean “Diddy” Combs or Knight were involved.
Investigation Context
Court testimony from detective Daryn Dupree revealed that Los Angeles police originally brought Davis in to discuss the unsolved 1997 shooting of the Notorious B.I.G. While Davis was briefly a suspect in that case, he was later discounted. Detective Greg Kading told Davis during the 2008 interview that the discussion was confidential and that nothing you say today can be used against you
.
Prosecutors contend that any such agreement was nullified a decade later when Davis began discussing the shooting in his memoir and other interviews, as noted by The Guardian.
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