For a cadre of devoted Tupac Shakur fans, coming to the murder trial of Duane Davis was a kind of pilgrimage, a way to pay homage to a person they view as an inspirational, even prophetic, figure.
Nearly 30 years to the day Shakur was mortally wounded in a shooting near the Strip, jurors returned a guilty verdict Monday against Davis, 63, a gang leader who was alleged to have organized the 1996 killing as retaliation for an attack by the rapper and his entourage on Davis’ nephew.
Davis, who gave authorities the evidence they needed by repeatedly speaking about his involvement in the crime, is the only person ever prosecuted in connection with Shakur’s death.
Many trials at the Regional Justice Center in downtown Las Vegas are lightly attended, watched only by those who have a stake in the outcome and the occasional curious reporter or lawyer.
The Davis trial was different.
Every day, a crowd of fans and the curious showed up, hoping for a spot in the courtroom, which was almost always packed. Some of them took notes intently, on pieces of loose leaf paper and in composition notebooks.
For them, the trial was a chance to be in proximity to a figure they admire and people who knew him.
Derrick Lee Stanton Jr., a rap artist who calls himself MassV, said the trial called to him on a spiritual level. He traveled to Las Vegas from Los Angeles, seeking the truth and closure.
“I feel like he’s a polarizing figure and I feel like his death marked the beginning of a spiritual war here on earth,” said Stanton. “And I feel like he was a prophet of God and I feel like his spirit is still here, more prevalent right now than ever.”
Stanton, who sees Shakur as an advocate for Black people, equality and peace, added: “I believe that his spirit actually entered me in February, and I get to speak on his behalf now.” His first assignment, he said: alert the rapper Dr. Dre to the return of Shakur’s spirit.
Timo Pfender, who came from Germany to see the trial, taking time off from his sales job, said being in the courtroom gave him the chance to be part of history.
“I’m a Tupac fan since 1998, so for me, he was an idol, a hero, somebody to look up to,” he said.
Shakur’s music was good, he said, but it also had a larger significance and showed the rapper was “a person that stands for something.”
“He was a poet and civil rights activist and a person that really had something to say,” Pfender said.
The Clark County District Court took steps to rein in the spectators during the trial.
A marshal told one woman to stop sketching the jury. A man was instructed not to film in the hallway outside the courtroom. Merchandise with Shakur’s image is ubiquitous in the world outside the trial, but someone posted a sign in the courthouse restricting attire.
“Clothing, hats, buttons, pins or other items that show names, photos, images, messages or symbols related to the case are not allowed,” it said. “Items that show support for or against anyone or anything involved in the case are also not allowed.”
It warned that people might be asked to remove or cover such items and could even be barred from the courtroom.
Some things still slipped through; as photos of Shakur’s corpse were shown early in the trial, a man in the gallery appeared to be using his phone to surreptitiously photograph the rapper’s bloodied body.
“I used to feel like he was going to one day come back because of all of the conspiracy theories,” said Bea Williams, a fan who lives in Henderson and also sees Shakur as a prophet and spiritual big brother. She came to court toting a dog-eared, water-damaged copy of the book “Tupac Remembered.”
Testimony and evidence at the trial helped to convinced her Shakur is “resting,” she said.
Williams learned of Shakur as a 10-year-old in Compton, California when she saw a music video of him, full of energy, performing his song “I Get Around.” His music helped her escape the reality of growing up in a poor neighborhood and diving to the ground to avoid being caught in the fire of drive-by shootings, she said.
“He helped me in so many ways,” she said. “I listen to him when I’m happy, when I’m sad, whatever I’m going through, I can go to it and I can relate to what he said.”
Despite their alignment with Shakur, some of the spectators were not convinced of Davis’ involvement.
Stanton said he wasn’t sure if Davis was guilty and thought the defense had done a good job.
“I feel like this case is going to answer a lot of questions that’s been unanswered for 30 years,” he said during the trial. “I’m anxious to see how we’re going to land.”
But after the verdict, he said the jury’s decision brought “a snippet of justice.”
“When I sit back and really analyze it, Duane Davis convicted himself, y’all,” he told reporters.
At a news conference Tuesday, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson read a statement from Shakur’s siblings, Set Shakur and Mopreme Shakur. They said they were “elated and relieved” by the jury’s verdict. They thanked jurors, friends, court marshals and victim advocates. They also thanked Shakur’s fans, who, they said, “have always provided their love and support.”
One of the fans in the courtroom was Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal, a prosecutor who tried Davis.
He encountered Shakur’s music as a teen growing up in Southern California in the early 1990s.
“To me, Tupac was the most emotive hip hop artist in the sense that he could get you to feel anything, whether it was his just rage or introspection or sorrow or social commentary,” he said.
Palal described working on the case as “a little surreal,” but he tried to handle it like any other, following the evidence, being fair and working carefully.
Though his prior knowledge helped him understand the circumstances surrounding the killing, he said, “To me, there’s a total separation between my fandom and the actual prosecution of the case.”
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com.
