Former investigators testified Wednesday about different accounts Duane “Keffe D” Davis gave law enforcement about the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur.
Davis, 63, is accused of orchestrating the drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip that led to Shakur’s death days later. Here are five takeaways from Wednesday’s testimony.
1. Davis told investigators in 1998 that he stayed at the Excalibur the night Shakur was shot
Former FBI Special Agent Wade Lee testified that Davis discussed Shakur’s killing during a confidential “proffer” interview in 1998.
Davis said that after his nephew, Orlando Anderson, was attacked at the MGM Grand, he and Anderson returned to their room at the Excalibur with their girlfriends and stayed there for the rest of the night.
That account placed Davis away from the scene of Shakur’s shooting.
2. He suggested Compton police officers might have killed Shakur
During the same 1998 interview, Davis offered another theory about Shakur’s death.
Lee testified that Davis speculated that Compton police officers working for Death Row Records CEO Marion “Suge” Knight might have killed Shakur because the rapper was considering leaving the record label.
Lee acknowledged under cross examination that he did not follow up on some of Davis’ allegations, including the claim about Compton police.
3. Ten years later, Davis gave investigators a much different account
Former Los Angeles Police Department Detective Daryn Dupree testified that Davis participated in another confidential interview in 2008.
Investigators were questioning Davis as part of an investigation into the killing of Christopher Wallace, better known as the Notorious B.I.G.
Davis denied involvement in Wallace’s death but told investigators: “We did the other one.”
Dupree said investigators had not asked Davis about Shakur.
“We didn’t ask him any questions about Tupac,” Dupree testified. “He talked about that on his own.”
4. Davis said he provided the gun used in the shooting
In the 2008 interview, Davis said he was inside the white Cadillac involved in Shakur’s shooting and handed a gun to Deandrae “Dre” Smith, who was sitting in the back seat, according to Dupree.
Davis said Smith was afraid to shoot, and Anderson, who also was in the back seat, carried out the shooting.
Anderson was fatally shot in 1998. Smith died in 2004.
5. An investigator testified that he believed Davis’ 2008 account
Dupree told jurors that Davis’ account of Shakur’s shooting appeared truthful to him because Davis implicated Anderson, his nephew.
“I didn’t think Mr. Davis was lying because he put the gun in his nephew’s hand,” Dupree testified.
Investigators subsequently signed Davis up as a confidential informant and attempted to verify his account. Davis was sent to New York in an unsuccessful attempt to meet with a man investigators believed might have information related to the killing.
This content was produced with the help of artificial intelligence, based on previous Review-Journal reporting and edited by Review-Journal staff.
