After giving media interviews, speaking to law enforcement and participating in a book project about his involvement in the slaying of hip hop star Tupac Shakur, Duane Davis has decided it’s time to stop talking.
Prosecutors have said Davis, 61, who is known as Keffe D and was reportedly a member of the South Side Crips, orchestrated the killing of Shakur near the Las Vegas Strip in 1996 as retaliation for a fight involving Shakur and his nephew.
Davis was indicted on a murder charge in 2023 and is scheduled to go to trial in February 2026.
Last week, he agreed to an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, but when a reporter and photographer showed up Monday morning at the Clark County Detention Center, where Davis is an inmate, he had little to say and ultimately walked out of the interview.
“My lawyer told me don’t do no interviews without him present,” he said.
Davis, who described himself as “a good man,” complained about past coverage by the newspaper, saying its stories sided with prosecutors and police.
“You guys are the worst,” he said. “I read your articles every time I go to court. It’s always against me. This is wrong.”
When a reporter called Davis’ attorney, Carl Arnold, in an attempt to salvage the interview, Arnold said there would be no interviews for the time being.
Shortly after the conversation with Arnold, Davis stood up and turned away from the video system that connected him to a reporter in the lobby of the jail. Before he could leave, he had to wait for a jail staffer to let him out of the cell from which he appeared on video.
In a recent ABC News interview, Davis maintained his innocence and said he was in Los Angeles when the slaying occurred.
He also claimed that he didn’t write or even read his memoir, Compton Street Legend, which says Davis “tossed” a gun into the backseat of the Cadillac in which he was riding at the time. That gun, the book said, was used by a man in the back seat for the shooting.
Yusuf Jah, who is listed as Davis’ co-author, could not be reached for comment.
According to the memoir, “Pac pulled out a strap,” which is slang for a gun, and the car in which Davis rode also received shots.
The book said Davis felt “a deep sense of remorse for what happened to Tupac,” but also stated: “Tupac, Suge Knight and the rest of those [racial slur] didn’t have any business putting their hands on my beloved nephew, Baby Lane. Period. Them jumping on my nephew gave us the ultimate green light to do something to their a—.”
Marion “Suge” Knight, who was grazed by a bullet, was the CEO of Death Row Records, which prosecutors have said was tied to the Bloods-associated Mob Piru gang.
Prosecutors have said Davis’ own words in the book and other public statements drove a renewed effort to investigate Shakur’s killing.
“Mr. Davis chose upon himself to publicly confess to a crime multiple times,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo said previously.
In a February court filing, Arnold said a defense investigator has found that the shooting was actually organized by a man who testified for the prosecution in grand jury proceedings.
Arnold has defended Davis by saying his client is “a liar” who can’t be trusted.
“What I’m going to argue is there’s no proof of him being here,” Arnold has said. “Just because he says he’s here, doesn’t mean that he was here.”
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.
