Jurors hear alleged gun hand-off in Tupac Shakur murder case

Jurors in a Las Vegas murder trial heard an audio interview recorded nearly twenty years ago in which Duane “Keffe D” Davis described handing the firearm used to kill Tupac Shakur to a passenger in his vehicle. Davis said the gun, concealed in a hidden compartment, was passed to Deandrae “Dre” Smith, who then gave it to his nephew Orlando Anderson, after which a shot was fired that mortally wounded the rapper. Prosecutors contend the incident was part of a street-gang feud between the South Side Compton Crips and the Mob Piru gang, linked respectively to Bad Boy Records and Death Row Records.

Davis’s lawyer highlighted his client’s tendency to embellish stories and the district attorney’s inability to place Davis in Las Vegas at the time. The testimony also included Davis’s claim that Sean “Puffy” Combs offered a million dollars for the killing, a charge Combs denies. After the shooting, Davis said he and his companions returned to a Las Vegas Strip hotel before heading back to Compton the next day. The case remains ongoing, with Davis maintaining a not-guilty plea.