Attorneys for Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the sole surviving suspect charged in the 1996 killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur, are pursuing an unconventional defense strategy, arguing that Shakur’s fatal injuries may have resulted from medical negligence rather than the Las Vegas drive-by shooting.
The claims, outlined in a recent court motion, seek to cast doubt on decades-old evidence and delay a trial currently slated to begin next month.
Davis, a former gang leader accused of orchestrating Shakur’s murder, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. His legal team filed a motion Friday in Clark County District Court, alleging new witness accounts suggest Shakur was “in stable condition” after the September 7, 1996, shooting—a claim they say warrants scrutiny into whether hospital care contributed to his death six days later. Defense attorneys have enlisted medical and forensic experts to evaluate the rapper’s autopsy and treatment records, though no findings have been disclosed publicly.
The motion also challenges Davis’s alleged presence at the crime scene. A private investigator working for the defense claims to have identified witnesses who will testify that Davis was neither in Las Vegas nor near the Strip on the night of the shooting. Additionally, the filing hints at “alternative suspects” who may have directed the attack, though no names or evidence were provided. “Critical facts remain unexamined,” defense attorney Carl Arnold said in a statement, citing the “complex, decades-old” nature of the case.
Prosecutors, however, maintain that Davis’s own admissions—including detailed descriptions of the shooting in interviews and a 2019 memoir—place him at the center of the plot. According to investigators, Davis supplied the gun used in the attack and was in the white Cadillac from which shots were fired into Shakur’s BMW, driven by Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight. The ambush occurred as both vehicles idled at a red light near the Strip, leaving Shakur with multiple gunshot wounds.
The defense’s push for a trial delay, set to be debated at a Tuesday hearing, underscores the challenges of prosecuting a case shrouded in myth and time. Witnesses have died, memories have faded, and much of the physical evidence has long been lost. Davis, arrested in September 2023 after years of public speculation about his role, remains jailed without bail.
For Shakur’s legions of fans, the trial represents a belated reckoning for one of hip-hop’s most enduring mysteries. For the defense, it’s a battle to dismantle a narrative built on circumstantial ties and Keffe D’s own words. As legal teams spar over timelines and testimony, the court’s decision on delaying the trial could shape whether a jury ever hears claims that Shakur’s death—like his life—was far more complicated than it seemed.
